The Ceremony Is About to Begin

I first heard about this one stumbling on the trailer and was surprised to see that it had 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (maybe a little high tbh). The trailer promised "Creep meets The Sacrament" with a supernatural Egyptian twist and that's exactly what the film delivers. I love the way the movie switches gears so deftly between styles - the mockumentary sequence that opens the film sucks you right into the world and the exploration of the empty cult grounds fills you with dread before switching into a really satisfying two-hander before totally delivering on the promise of the poster. Highly recommended for die hard fans of found footage hungry for something new. If you didn't like Creep, The Sacrament, or Blair Witch, probably won't be your cup of tea.

I don't even know how to properly review this abomination of a film. How can I properly convey just how dreadful it is, and how it defiles every single element that makes for an enjoyable movie? I just don't even understand how movies like this actually get made, and why anyone funds them.

It's bad enough that found-footage seems to be the haven for broke and talentless auteurs to make vanity projects for as little money as possible, but this has to be up there with the very worst the sub-genre has to offer. With FF movies, at the very least you are guaranteed believable acting, as many people just play themselves or versions of themselves, which often adds to the (albeit, fake) authenticity. But for a movie with a cast of less than 5 people, everyone was absolutely horrendous, the two male leads were just bad and had very weak scene presence, and nothing about the movie seemed like it was given any actual creative consideration. The script was bad, the Egyptian motif looked cheaply made and poorly designed, and the film itself was only an hour and 10 minutes, but not a single horror element occurred until the last 20 minutes of the film, and only lasted for 10 minutes.

I paid $3 for this and I still felt jipped. I wasn't expecting a best picture Oscar nominee, but I was at least hoping I'd be entertained. Instead, I'm writing this review at the credits roll, not caring about anything else that's transpiring on the screen. It was all just so utterly abhorrent, I am going to make it mission to avoid anything made by anyone responsible for this movie to prevent any future disappointment.

An hour of yapping to only be given 10 minutes of the absolute worse horror I have seen in decades left a very sour taste in my mouth. I cannot recommend this film to anyone, not even as a goof. Please stay as far away from it as possible and do not waste your time on it like I did.

Always happy to see a small indie horror create big crazy worlds with a tiny budget. Anubis is such a weird and specific character, played perfectly by Hinds. Keith is a fun foil for him. Aside from the elaborate set design of the cult headquarters, this is mostly just two actors sparring with each other for most of the runtime, so I expect this movie being misleadingly marketed as a "mummy found footage movie" is hurting its rating on platforms like this. The ending is insane and gross as its reputation suggests, but I actually preferred the journey to get there. The short runtime is also a plus as this thing just shot by.

The Ceremony Is About to Begin" (2024) is only 70 minutes long, yet it somehow feels much longer. The protagonist makes one dumb decision after another, while the antagonist is so over-the-top goofy that it's impossible to take him seriously. Instead of being scary, the film leans on gross-out moments that add nothing of value. One cult member says she regrets not leaving earlier-something I completely related to. I kept hoping it would improve, but it never did. By the end, I was just relieved it was over. If you're looking for real horror, skip this. This ceremony isn't worth attending, and neither is this movie.

Like a lot of found footage movies, this is 2/3 slow buildup and 1/3 insane payoff. The chit-chat drags a bit, but this is a very short film and the extended setup ultimately pays off in dividends when you get to the last 20 minutes. The final scene in particular is one of the most outlandish and surprising I've seen in some time. For me, this is why I watch indie horror. The budgets are tiny, but these films are willing to go places that mainstream horror simply would never even contemplate. The poor ratings on this one suggest this film has been a victim of mismarketing. No, this is not really a "mummy" movie exactly, but actually something much more disturbing and (darkly) funny. Recommended for those with adventurous tastes.