Movie · 1972 · Drama, Adventure, Thriller · 1h 49m · R · English
Curator score: 7.6/10 (249.6K ratings)
What did happen on the Cahulawassee River?
Overview
Intent on seeing the Cahulawassee River before it's turned into one huge lake, outdoor fanatic Lewis Medlock takes his friends on a river-rafting trip they'll never forget into the dangerous American back-country.
Ratings
Curator score: 7.6/10
IMDb: 7.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.86/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Metacritic: 80
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
John Boorman
Production
Warner Bros. Pictures, Elmer Enterprises
Cast
Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Ed Ramey, Billy Redden, Seamon Glass, Randall Deal, Bill McKinney, Herbert 'Cowboy' Coward, Lewis Crone, Ken Keener, Johnny Popwell, John Fowler, Kathy Rickman, Louise Coldren, Pete Ware, James Dickey, Macon McCalman, Hoyt Pollard
Curator Review
Verdict
A landmark survival thriller that turns a canoe trip into a brutal study of masculinity, civilization, and moral collapse. It’s tense, elemental, and unforgettable, with a reputation that’s earned rather than inflated.
Best for
viewers who like survival stories with real physical danger
fans of 1970s American cinema
people interested in psychological pressure-cooker thrillers
audiences drawn to wilderness-as-antagonist stories
Skip if
you want a light adventure movie
you’re sensitive to sexual violence or extreme dread
you prefer clearly heroic protagonists
you dislike bleak, punishing endings
Overview
Deliverance is one of the defining American thrillers of the 1970s because it understands that the real horror is not just the river, but what the river strips away. The trip begins as a macho escape fantasy and slowly becomes a test of nerve, guilt, and survival, with each decision feeling heavier than the last.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the precision of its tension: the landscape is gorgeous, but never comforting, and the film keeps tightening the screws until the characters are no longer tourists in nature but prey inside it. The performances are controlled and convincing, especially as the group dynamic fractures under pressure.
Bottom line
Its reputation for one infamous sequence can overshadow how carefully the film builds its dread. This is not just a shock movie; it’s a grim, muscular piece of American cinema about pride, violence, and the thin line between competence and collapse.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Patrick Willems (4.5★) · 1750 likes
The early 70s, a time when apparently every filmmaker was wondering "hmmmm...are seemingly mild-mannered men actually capable of savage violence????"
Colin the dude (5★) · 1511 likes
That part where Jon Voight second guesses who he just shot thinking he sees real teeth in the mouth. He feels the face, plays with the dentures that come out and he quietly sighs with relief. Finally something went right. Just an incredible little ice breaking moment of clarity. The way the characters grapple with the enormity of their situation, it becomes such a heavy burden, one almost big enough to slip out of their control. When Ronny Cox draws the line with the first murder. Where was his Oscar that year? Such a heavy scene, you're just sweating with them along every decision. Staggering film.
Karsten (4★) · 1380 likes
didn’t know scary banjo was even a thing
travis (3.5★) · 1037 likes
I now realize the “paddle faster, I hear banjo music!” stickers I always thought were fun are not implying one should paddle *toward* said banjo music
sakana1 (4.5★) · 829 likes
It's remarkable how little we know about the quartet of vacationers in Deliverance. Bobby, we're told, is in insurance. Ed knows Drew, a little — well enough to name his wife and kids without too much trouble, but beyond that, not much. We don't know what Ed does, only that he has a wife and a son. And what we know about Lewis is what he tells us: what he puts aggressively on display as his identity, so that everyone… more It's remarkable how little we know about the quartet of vacationers in Deliverance. Bobby, we're told, is in insurance. Ed knows Drew, a little — well enough to name his wife and kids without too much trouble, but beyond that, not much. We don't know what Ed does, only that he has a wife and a son. And what we know about Lewis is what he tells us: what he puts aggressively on display as his identity, so that everyone… more
2007 · Crime, Thriller, Western · 2h 2m · R · Curator 9.6/10 (3.1M ratings) · Where to watch: fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus, Philo
For viewers drawn to fatalism, moral pressure, and the sense that violence is always one step ahead.
A story of idealism curdling into obsession in an unforgiving natural environment.
Topics
survival thriller, wilderness, 1970s cinema, masculinity, moral descent, psychological tension, backcountry, adventure gone wrong, bleak tone, American New Hollywood