Rituals 1977

Five surgeons, all former medical school cohorts, retreat for a rugged weekend in the remote wilds of Northern Ontario, where the silence of the forest presses in and the pace of life slows to the cadence of trees, water, and distant animal calls. In the lead, Harry is a stoic neurologist whose steady presence anchors the group, a man whose years in the operating room have taught him to hold fear at bay with a calm, practiced focus. Beside him moves Mitzi, a practical general surgeon whose edge is sharpened by competence and a readiness to challenge the team’s ideas when she thinks they’re drifting. Then there is Martin, once a surgeon himself, now quietly settled into general practice after stepping away from the operating table; his decision weighs heavily on him, revealing a man wrestling with the pull between medicine, identity, and a private life he kept hidden from colleagues. D.J., Martin’s brother, rounds out the trio of core friends, sharing a history that both binds and complicates their relationship, while Abel travels with them, adding another layer to the group’s dynamic as the weekend unwinds its threads.

Their arrival is simple: dropped off by plane, they hike into the dense woods and set a campfire to burn away the chill of the night. The mood shifts quickly from casual banter to a sharper contest of egos as the men trade barbs about whose specialty demands the most intellect or prestige. The camaraderie frays just enough to feel brittle, and by the time the sun climbs higher, everyone discovers that their boots have vanished, as if the forest itself were testing their unity.

D.J. volunteers to trek toward a hydro-dam marked on his map, hoping there will be operators who can lend a hand. The decision to separate intensifies the unease, and in the stillness that follows his departure, a grisly omen appears. A severed deer head—its carcass punctuated by a snake wrapped around the spinal cord, eerily echoing a caduceus—hangs at the campsite. The sight unsettles the group, and while Mitzi and Harry stand guard, the rest suspect that D.J. might be responsible, a suspicion that gnaws at them as the day grows longer.

When dawn comes, the party moves with grim determination to locate their missing companion, but a silent trap activates as they advance—unleashing a swarming beehive that drives them into the water in a scrambling flight for safety. From the lake, a shadowy figure is seen tossing Abel over a steep incline, a moment that freezes in memory as a brutal reminder of mortality. The three survivors—Harry, Mitzi, and Martin—are left to reconcile their fear with the harsh reality that violence has chosen their path, and the specter of D.J. lingers in the air.

As dusk settles along a river, the exhausted trio camps briefly, letting Mitzi explore upstream while Harry and Martin talk in a rare moment of candor. Martin admits, with a tremor in his voice, that he never intends to practice surgery again. He reveals a troubled past marked by alcoholism and a long-broken romance with a man, a confession that shakes Harry but also shows a vulnerable side of a man who once walked the high wire between life and death. Harry offers a wartime anecdote about quitting drinking during the Korean War, a shared memory that echoes through their conversation until it’s interrupted by Mitzi’s discovery of a rope hanging over the river—perhaps left by D.J.—and the decision to press on at first light.

The next morning brings a brutal turn: Martin steps onto a bear trap hidden in the water, breaking his leg and forcing the trio to improvise a dangerous crossing with him laid on a stretcher. The mood thickens with fear that they are being stalked or tormented by someone intent on avenging a botched surgery, a possibility that feeds the mounting tension as they push forward along the river, crossing toward a waterfall they hope to scale in daylight. A quarrel between Harry and Mitzi erupts mid-journey, then subsides into a partial reconciliation as they camp again and reminisce about their mutual friend Andy, who died by suicide while they were medical students.

At dawn, the sight of smoke on a distant mountainside stirs a new clue: a World War II medal placed around Martin’s neck suggests the stalker might be a veteran. They carry Martin up toward the peak, hoping the exposure and altitude might change their luck, and Mitzi discovers a stark symbol of mortality—Abel’s severed head impaled on a stake back down at the base. The revelation sobers them, and Mitzi refuses to abandon Martin, while Harry, driven by a stubborn resolve, continues dragging his friend despite exhaustion. When Mitzi reappears to help, the two push forward to the dam that D.J. had been aiming for, only to find it deserted and crumbling. There, they come upon D.J.—still alive, but tortured and nailed to a chair. Concealed with him is an overexposed X-ray and hospital paperwork for a patient named Matthew Crowley, a clue that prompts Harry to deliver a mercy killing, ending D.J.’s suffering.

With heavy hearts, Mitzi leaves the derelict dam, and Harry learns that Martin has died. He mourns in quiet solitude as he looks out over the bleak landscape, the weight of the weekend settling into his bones. The search for safety leads him to an abandoned cabin, where relics from World War II, along with the group’s stolen boots, lie hidden. An elderly hermit named Jesse arrives and tries to assault him, but the blind man’s warning lands with grave gravity. The arrival of Matthew—Matthew Crowley, a damaged war veteran with a disfigured face—turns the cabin into a scene of stark danger as he begins to stab through the wall and sever an artery in Harry’s leg. Outside, Mitzi cries out in fear and begs for help as Matthew advances toward burning him alive as a macabre effigy. Harry, fighting for life, cauterizes his own wound as the desperate struggle continues, and in the final, tense moment, he shoots Matthew dead to end the assault.

Morning light finds Harry staggering toward a country road, the world somehow both clearer and heavier after everything he has endured. He waits for the next passing car, a solitary figure of endurance who has survived a retreat that began with camaraderie and devolved into a brutal test of will, perception, and the raw edges of friendship under the pressure of nature’s indifference.