To me, this movie is perfection.

Simply Perfect

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

THE FINAL RITES (aka RITES OF PASSAGE) is a very strange little movie. It involves a group of high school students who are being taught about esoteric Native American drugs by their slick teacher. One of the students has an elder brother who experiments with these narcotics, which turns him into a psychopath. Inevitably a group of the students go away for the weekend for a beach holiday and find themselves being menaced by all and sundry.There's a definite sense here that the story was being made up as they went along. Certainly it seems to make little sense and by the end it's fallen apart entirely, so the "narrative" consists of characters killing each other off until only the final survivors are left. The first half of the film, which is the build up, is actually mildly enjoyable, so it's a pity that the it goes absolutely nowhere come the end.Three famous faces are mixed up in this mess. Wes Bentley plays virtually the same likable loner/weirdo character as he did in American BEAUTY. Stephen Dorff shows up as a cool teacher who's down with the kids, and strips off to show his buff body when required. Then there's an almost unrecognisable Christian Slater, hilariously playing a demented psychopath who just wants to kill everybody. His interactions with a sock puppet bring to mind the PG Tips adverts in the UK starring Johnny Vegas and Monkey. It's all very silly and relatively bloodless, meaning there's not much here for the viewers.

This really doesn't look like a low-budget Movie. It has a number of smartly shot Scenes and has a willing and effective Semi-Amateurish Cast. But it truly moves and it moves a lot. Once it gets going things unfold at a very rapid pace. Maybe a bit too rapid.Trying to incorporate the Native American Mythology might have been a well intentioned misstep. The Shamanistic use of Psychedelics could have been implemented without such a strong emphasis on the Sacred and Cultural aspects that some hold dear.That being said it does work somewhat and is an exercise in Style and has an energetic, drug-induced feel. Kudos for trying to hit at the recreational College Student's propensity for Alcohol and Wild experimentations, but it is the Thriller aspects that shine in this sometimes confusing effort at our Cultural Playgrounds.Overall, this is worth a view for some of what is quite different and more interesting than the average Teen Horror Movie and there is obviously Talent at work here and what emerges is an Entertaining, somewhat offbeat, try to be something a little new with so little to work with.

While most of these reviewers are critiquing Rites of Passage as a possible award winning film, I will review it from the point of view of a casual movie watcher. I enjoyed watching this film because it was fast paced and kept my attention the whole time. I also liked the fact that it was filmed entirely in Isla Vista. I grew up in the area so it is cool to see a movie that was filmed there. The movie is marketed towards the college audience with its main themes of sex, drugs, and partying. Though some people may say that the movie is demeaning to native American women, I think that it made the movie more interesting. Movie directors put their own twist on historical events and shouldn't be critiqued because of it. I am Asian American and there have been plenty of demeaning movies about Asian culture but I have no problem with it. This is the kind of movie that should be watched for pure entertainment without any preconception of native American culture. It is one of those movies that you invite some friends over to watch while eating some popcorn. Overall, I enjoyed the movie but I couldn't fully relate because I have never taken any psychedelic drugs. The whole movie revolves around the characters in paranoia and can be related by people who have taken similar drugs.

the notion that people would have issues "unrelated" to the themes portrayed in this movie is invalid. the very fact that this movie chose to capitalize and exploit native culture for a mere thrill factor is reason enough for some people to find it offensive and a poor representation of the native community. just because you got a couple of native people to get on board with the project in no means makes it OK nor does that small group represent first nations community of this country. and in this day and age when native Americans are being misrepresented and portrayed stereotypically left and right it's no surprise that this movie would once again portray native people in a stereotypical misrepresented manner. the problem is this American society that we live in doesn't find it necessary to really educate themselves about our culture or way of life unless it serves them in some way, i.e learning enough to make a believable thrasher film. because if this society did truly educate themselves they would acquire enough respect and dignity that they wouldn't exploit an already damaged culture that has been almost completely eradicated in the name of the American dream. but of course this film represents America, Hollywood, where nothing is sacred. everything is exploited for a buck and entertainment. so while you go ahead and exercise your rights at the expense of others, just remember why you chose to do it. not to educate people about a culture and a people, it was to entertain with blood murder, drugs and Indians.