The Ritual Killer Ending Explained (In Detail): Why Boyd Did THAT

The Ritual Killer 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 Hauser of Yellowstone and Pitch Black fame, The Ritual Killer follows Lucas Boyd (Hauser), a Mississippi homicide detective who is reeling from the recent death of his daughter and the suicide of his wife. A string of brutal and ritualistic murders across the globe 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, who helps Boyd uncover the identity of the serial killer and unearth an ancient and disturbing ritual. It may not be the best movie of Morgan Freeman’s career, or Hauser’s for that matter, considering his appearances in Dazed and Confused and Good Will Hunting, but The Ritual Killer is a slow-burning, methodical thriller that rewards paying attention to the various subplots. The Ritual Killer 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 Murderer

Boyd and Mackles’ search for a serial killer leads them to believe it’s a witch doctor, as the mutilation of the bodies and missing body parts is a part of“Muti”, a ritualistic murder 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 capture 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 down to where he plans on performing his final murder and ceremony. The Ritual Killer places a real-life athlete in the movie’s villainous 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 that he is easily able to dispatch Boyd, knocking him out. However, before he blacks out, he sees Mackles walk up to confront him.

Somehow, Mackles, an elderly college professor, manages to get the upper hand against the massive murderer and the last the audience sees of the sangoma is Randoku limping away, bleeding from a knife wound as Mackles stares after him. This may have been the normal ending for most crime thrillers, but The Ritual Killer has some more tricks to play.

Lavazzi Tells Boyd That Mackles Knew Randoku

Mackles Taught Randoku About Muti

Boyd recovers and reunites with Mackles, and the two congratulate each other on 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 connected deaths taking place across the world, including in Italy, under Lavazzi’s watch. Lavazzi tells Boyd that Randoku learned about Muti from Dr. Mackles while the professor was teaching in Rome, meaning Mackles knew Randoku and never said anything.

When Mackles and Boyd find out who the sangoma is, there is a brief but odd look that passes between Mackles and Randoku. While Mackles may not have been certain of the sangoma’s identity, it’s likely he had his suspicions about who was performing these hyper-specific ritual practices. When Mackles learns the identity of the killer, not only is he shocked to realize he knows the man, but there’s an intense feeling of guilt considering Mackles is the one who taught him about the practice.

Mackles Is A Sangoma

Dr. Mackles Also Knows How To Perform Muti Rituals

Mackles knows a lot about Muti. This is not entirely implausible, as he is a professor of anthropology after all. 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 Mackles is also a sangoma. Being a sangoma is not a bad thing on its own. Witch doctors are respected healers in their locales, and according to Mackles, Muti’s main purpose is to provide healing. It’s 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 in the hospital. Later, it’s revealed that the police officer had made a miraculous recovery. It’s 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’s possible that Mackles has 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 Muti

After Boyd learns that Mackles and Randoku knew each other, he attempts 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 included note says, “I got him“. Out of the package, Boyd pulls two bloody eyeballs, which could only belong to Randoku. Another package also goes to Lavazzi, though which body parts he was gifted remains a secret.

Earlier in the movie, while discussing Muti, Mackles says each body part provides a different gift. Eyes, for example, provide clarity and farsightedness. Boyd has struggled the entire film with the memory of his daughter, who tragically died while he was supposed to be watching her. Farsightedness and clarity may have helped him, and they certainly would help him in his career as a detective. Boyd considers the horrifying gift for a moment beforeslowly putting 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 Ritual Killer’s Ending

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 one day alone. Instead of keeping an eye on her, he got drunk and passed out, resulting in the young girl having a seizure and drowning. His wife took her own life soon after, unable to bear the grief. Mackles taught Muti to Randoku, who ended up using this knowledge to torture and murder numerous innocent people.

Both men have to deal with tremendous guiltthat makes their hunt for the sangoma a personal mission to right their wrongs. How they do this is another theme of The Ritual Killer. Boyd shows at the beginning of the movie that he is willing to resort to vigilante justice when he shoots a pedophile out of anger, despite the criminal surrendering. The nature of Randoku’s crimes is horrendous enough that it seems like Boyd will once again take his own vengeance. However, it’s Mackles who breaks the law to kill the killer at the end of the film.

While the two men did succeed in stopping a killer, 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 unable to handle its power, like Randoku, and yet, he still gives a final lesson to Boyd, a man he knows has trouble controlling his base urges. Mackles has not learned from the events of The Ritual Killer and has now given a powerful tool to someone who may use the practice for the wrong reasons.

The Ritual Killer

The Ritual Killer is a dramatic action thriller by director George Gallo and stars Cole Hauser and Morgan Freeman. When a detective still grieving his daughter enters the hunt for an international serial killer conducting ritualistic killings, he’ll seek assistance from a professor with knowledge on the subject. However, this expert knows far more than just the ritualistic killings – he hides a terrifying secret.

Director

George Gallo

Release Date

March 10, 2023

Cast

Cole Hauser , Morgan Freeman , Peter Stormare , Vernon Davis , Brian Kurlander , Mayumi Roller

Runtime

92 minutes