Ritual (2000)

Starring:

• Clarence Williams III
• Denise Nicholas
• Shawn Michael Howard
• Angelle Brooks
• Gerrie Ellis

Storyline

Leon Becker is a successful and wealthy Malibu attorney and the patriarch of a seemingly perfect and harmonious family. Leon sees his brood as the pinnacle of personal achievement and as an example to all that the great American Dream is attainable, even if you are Black. The trials and tribulations exist in his home and are equally detached from his ethical soul underneath the surface. Wife and mother Sylvia is on the verge of alcoholism and is threatened by her daughter Teresa, a cunning "electra" who seems to want to replace her in the house and, perhaps, the bedroom. And Becker's brooding on Mason drops out of his Ivy League school and returns home to confront his family's problems. Yet, all these trials-by-fire are the challenges along the path to survival for this American family.