Movie · 1971 · Comedy, Drama, Romance · 1h 32m · PG · English
Curator score: 8.2/10 (221.9K ratings)
They were meant to be. But exactly what they were meant to be is not quite clear.
Overview
A deadpan young man obsessed with death meets an eccentric septuagenarian who teaches him to live life to the fullest.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.2/10
IMDb: 7.8/10
Letterboxd: 4.11/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 62
TMDB: 7.6/10
Director
Hal Ashby
Production
Paramount Pictures
Cast
Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack, Charles Tyner, Ellen Geer, Eric Christmas, G. Wood, Judy Engles, Shari Summers, Tom Skerritt, Susan Madigan, Ray K. Goman, Gordon Devol, Harvey Brumfield, Henry Dieckoff, Philip Schultz, Sonia Sorel, Margot Jones, Barry Higgins
Curator Review
Verdict
A singular black comedy-romance with a mournful streak, Harold and Maude turns a taboo premise into something tender, mischievous, and unexpectedly life-affirming. Its offbeat humor, deadpan performances, and Cat Stevens soundtrack give it a distinct voice that still feels fresh.
Best for
fans of dark comedy with heart
viewers who like eccentric romance
people drawn to 1970s American cinema
audiences open to taboo or provocative premises
fans of bittersweet, life-affirming stories
Skip if
you need a conventional romance
age-gap relationships or death-centered humor bother you
you prefer fast-paced plotting
you want a purely realistic tone
Overview
Harold and Maude is one of those rare films that takes a premise that could easily collapse under its own gimmick and turns it into something deeply humane. Hal Ashby plays the material with a light touch, letting the deadpan comedy and melancholy coexist without forcing the sentiment. The result is a movie that feels playful, strange, and oddly gentle all at once.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is its emotional clarity. Harold’s fixation on death is treated as a symptom of isolation, not a punchline, and Maude’s exuberance becomes a kind of philosophy rather than a quirky accessory. Ruth Gordon gives the film its spark, while Bud Cort keeps Harold fragile and watchable without losing the character’s essential emptiness.
Bottom line
It’s still a film that can provoke debate, especially around its age-gap romance, but that friction is part of its legacy. For viewers willing to meet it on its own wavelength, it’s a memorable, beautifully made cult classic with a real ache beneath the whimsy.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Robin (3.5★) · 6106 likes
Manic Pixie Dream Grandma
mia lee vicino (4★) · 3738 likes
nooooo don’t kill urself ur so sexy when u feel so unloved by ur mother that u stage elaborate fake suicides as desperate cries for help that she perpetually ignores aha
Karsten (4★) · 3366 likes
Cmon I can't be the only one who did a little "wow" when Harold first spoke and his voice was way deeper than I thought it'd be
Hershey · 3158 likes
The millisecond shot of the numbers on Maude’s arm is one of the greatest shots of all time.
mememily (3★) · 2910 likes
i can't believe wes anderson was able to direct this at the ripe young age of 2