Movie · 1973 · Horror, Drama · 2h 2m · R · English
Curator score: 8.2/10 (1.4M ratings)
Something almost beyond comprehension is happening to a girl on this street, in this house…And a man has been sent for as a last resort. This man is The Exorcist.
Overview
When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.2/10
IMDb: 8.1/10
Letterboxd: 3.95/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 78%
Metacritic: 83
TMDB: 7.7/10
Director
William Friedkin
Production
Hoya Productions, Warner Bros. Pictures
Cast
Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, William O'Malley, Kitty Winn, Barton Heyman, Peter Masterson, Jack MacGowran, Rudolf Schündler, Gina Petrushka, Robert Symonds, Arthur Storch, Thomas Bermingham, Vasiliki Maliaros, Titos Vandis, John Mahon, Wallace Rooney, Ron Faber
Curator Review
Verdict
A landmark possession horror film that’s as much about grief, faith, and parental helplessness as it is about shocks. Its slow-burn dread, clinical precision, and emotional seriousness make it essential viewing even for people who don’t usually seek out horror.
Best for
viewers who want classic horror with real dramatic weight
fans of slow-burn psychological dread
people interested in faith, guilt, and family trauma on screen
movie lovers curious about a foundational genre landmark
Skip if
you only want fast-paced modern horror
you’re sensitive to disturbing imagery and bodily horror
you prefer horror that stays campy or purely supernatural
you want a light, easy watch
Overview
The Exorcist endures because it treats possession less like a gimmick than a family catastrophe. Before the horror fully arrives, the film builds a world of illness, exhaustion, and emotional strain, so the supernatural feels like an invasion of an already fragile home. That grounding gives the movie its power: the terror lands harder because the pain is human first.
Worth noting
William Friedkin’s direction is famously controlled, almost austere, and that restraint makes the eruptions of chaos feel devastating. The film’s pacing, editing, and sound design are all doing heavy lifting, creating a sense of dread that keeps tightening rather than simply jumping out at you. It’s one of those rare horror films that feels formally immaculate as well as deeply upsetting.
Bottom line
What lingers most is the movie’s sadness. It’s about faith under pressure, about institutions that can’t fully answer suffering, and about a mother trying to save her child with whatever tools remain. Even decades later, it still feels unusually adult, which is a big part of why it remains a benchmark for the genre.
Top Letterboxd reviews
DirkH (4★) · 8697 likes
I hope when my daughter hits puberty it'll be a tad less eventful.
Peaceful Stoner (5★) · 6433 likes
This review is based on a true story.
Last night a human being watched this stoned and almost had a heart attack from fright.
matt lynch (4★) · 5803 likes
Scary, but less scary than heartbreaking, suffused with grief and guilt and dread, with the sense that there's no system truly prepared to combat madness or pain, there's only trial and error, the compromise of barely surviving them.