The Ritual Killer End Explains (in detail): Why Boyd did this

The ritual killer The ending can be explained with a more detailed look at what happens in the shocking and disturbing closing moments of the 2023 action-thriller. Starring Cole Houser of Yellowstone And Pitch black honor, The ritual killer Follow Lucas Boyd (Hauser), a Mississippi homicide detective reeling from the recent death of his daughter and the suicide of his wife. A string of brutal and ritualistic murders from around the world makes its way to his small town, and he must enlist the help of an anthropologist and college professor to figure out what’s going on.

Morgan Freeman co-stars as Dr. Mackles, Which helps Boyd uncover the identity of the serial killer and uncover an ancient and disturbing ritual. It may not be the best movie of Morgan Freeman’s career, or Houser’s for that matter, considering his appearances in Desperate and confused And Good luck huntingHowever The ritual killer is a slow-burning, methodical thriller that rewards attention to its various subplots. The ritual killer The ending is what turns the movie from a token detective procedural into something more unique, with a lot more to say.

Boyd and Mackles confront the ritual killer

Mackles duels the imposing assassin

Boyd and Mackles’ search for a serial killer leads them to believe it is a witch doctor, as The mutilation of the bodies and missing body parts is a part of “Muti”, a ritualistic killing practice that involves removing body parts from a still-living victim (via National Library of Medicine). According to Mackles, an expert on the subject, by harvesting and consuming the parts, a witch doctor, or “sangoma”, will raise the victim’s life force and energy. The more the victim suffers, the more powerful and successful the body parts will be to the one who consumes them.

With this in mind, Boyd and Mackles track the killer to where he plans to carry out his final killing and ceremony. The ritual killer Puts a real-life athlete in the movie’s villain role to great effect. Super Bowl-winning tight end Vernon Davis of NFL fame plays the Sangoma, a man named Randoku. His imposing size means he is easily able to dispatch Boyd, knocking him out. However, before he blocks out, he sees Mackles walk up to confront him.

Somehow, Mackles, a senior college professor, managed to get the upper hand against the massive killer and The last the audience sees of the sangoma is Randoku limping away, bleeding from a knife wound as Maccles stalks after him.. This could have been the standard ending for most crime thrillers, however The ritual killer Has some more tricks to play.

Lavazzi tells Boyd that Mackles knew Randoku

Maccles taught Randoku about Muti

Boyd recovers and reunites with Mackles, and the two congratulate each other for surviving and solving the case. Shortly after, Boyd receives a call from Inspector Mario Lavazzi (Giuseppe Zeno). Lavazzi was the officer who helped Boyd connect the murders in Mississippi to a string of related deaths occurring around the world, including in Italy, under Lavazzi’s watch. Lavazi tells Boyd that Randoku learned about Muti from Dr. Mackles While the professor was teaching in Rome, that means Maccles knew Randoku and never told.

When Mackles and Boyd find out who the Sangoma is, there is a brief but funny look that passes between Mackles and Randoku. Although Mackles could not be certain of the Sangoma’s identity, it is likely that he had his suspicions about who was performing these hyper-specific ritual practices. When Mackles learns the identity of the killer, he is not only shocked to realize that he knows the man, but there is a deep sense of guilt, considering Mackles is the one who taught him about the practice.

Maccles is a sangoma

Dr. Maccles also knows how to perform muti rituals

Mackles knows a lot about courage. This is not completely unbelievable, because he is obviously a professor of anthropology. However, this is a fairly niche topic and one that he is willing to discuss around the world. Clearly still practiced by some people, The ritual killer Implies that Maccles is also a Sangoma. Being a sangoma is not a bad thing in itself. Witch doctors are respected healers in their communities, and according to Mackles, Muti’s main purpose is to provide healing. It is only dangerous people like Randoku who use the practice for something more sinister.

When Boyd’s partner is mortally wounded, Mackles stays behind with the officer at the hospital. Later, it was revealed that the police officer had made a miraculous recovery. It is possible that Mackles used the muti practice as a healing art. Then there is the final confrontation. Mackles takes on a much larger Randoku, and still manages to defeat him. It is possible that Mackles also consumed body parts in the style of muti To gain enough life force to defeat the rogue Sangoma.

Boyd eats Randoku’s eyeball to gain the power of clarity

Mackles gives Boyd a taste of mudi

After Boyd learns that Mackles and Randoku knew each other, he tries to contact Mackles. However, the college professor has seemingly disappeared. Confused and worried, Boyd returns home, only to find a package addressed to him, from Mackles. The enclosed notice states, “I have him.“Out of the package, Boyd pulls two bloody eyeballs, which can only belong to Randoku. Another package also goes to Lavazi, though which body part he was gifted remains a secret.

Earlier in the movie, while discussing Muti, Mackles says that each body part gives a different gift. Eyes, for example, provide clarity and foresight. Boyd struggles throughout the film with the memory of his daughter, who tragically died while he was supposed to be watching her. Foresight and clarity could have helped him, and they certainly would have helped him in his career as a detective. Boyd considered the terrifying gift for a moment before Slowly put one of the eyes in his mouth. He struggles to swallow it, but when he finally does, a menacing smile creeps across his face.

The real meaning of the end of the ritual killer

Guilt and vigilantism drive the protagonists of the ritual killer

Feelings of guilt permeate The ritual killer. Boyd is constantly assaulted by unwanted flashbacks to the day his daughter died. Boyd took his daughter, who was prone to seizures, swimming alone one day. Instead of keeping an eye on her, he got drunk and locked up, which caused the young girl to become trapped and drowned. His wife took her own life soon after, unable to bear the grief. Mackles taught Muti to Randoku, who ended up using the knowledge to torture and kill many innocent people.

Both men have to deal with enormous guilt Which makes their hunt for the sangoma a personal mission To correct their wrongs. How they do it is another topic The ritual killer. Boyd shows at the beginning of the movie that he is ready to resort to vigilante justice when he shoots a pedophile in anger, despite the criminal’s surrender. The nature of Randoku’s crimes is horrific enough that it seems Boyd will once again seek his own revenge. However, it is Mackles who breaks the law to kill the killer at the end of the film.

While the two men succeed in stopping a murderer, their methods end the film on an unnerving note. This is punctuated by Mackles’ gift to Boyd. He already knows what Muti can do to those who can’t handle his power, like Randoku, and yet, he gives one final lesson to Boyd, a man he knows has trouble controlling his base energies. Maccles did not learn of the events of The ritual killer And has now given a powerful tool to someone who could use the practice for the wrong reasons.

How the end of the ritual killer was received

The movie was bashed by critics and fans

Both critics and fans seemed to hate it The ritual killer. The critical response was an extremely low 9% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the Audience Popcornmeter score was also very low, at 20%. In his review for Blu-Ray.comFilm critic Brian Orndorff writes, “The material tries to give the impression that something is going wrong when the third act arrives, but no such atmosphere is conjured..” That seemed to be the consensus, the movie did little to pay the story it was trying to tell.

The audience review at Rotten tomatoes Was no longer flattering. One audience review of the film reads, “Worst of all, the movie’s climax is set some 20 minutes before the film ends, and everything that follows lacks cohesion. This is a gruesome filming. All involved should demand that their names be removed from the credits.“

This was also transferred to Reddit, where a thread was created with the title, “The Ritual Killer was so much worse than I expected.” in one comment in the thread, Redditor zeal explains his problem with The ritual killer ending “I see what they are trying to do by keeping us guessing about what happened but they leave out too many important plot points for us to make an honest conclusion. They didn’t connect Freeman’s character, the little girl who got saved, or the Italian cop.“