The Exorcist (1973)
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.
When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
| Type | Movie |
|---|---|
| Released | 26 December 1973 |
| Genre | Horror |
| Director | William Friedkin |
| Starring | Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair and Jason Miller |
| Runtime | 122 min |
| Rated | R |
| Scores | Rotten Tomatoes (average) 8.3/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 84% · Metacritic 81/100 · TMDB users 7.7/10 |
| Budget | $12 million |
| Box office | $441 million worldwide |
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What kind of watch this is
William Friedkin’s 1973 film treats possession not as a jump scare, but as a slow, suffocating medical mystery that refuses to be explained away. It is 122 minutes of a mother’s rationality being systematically dismantled by a force that operates on completely different rules. The horror lives in the silence between the screaming, in the way the camera lingers on the mundane details of a house slowly losing its mind. It is less about the monster and more about the terrifying banality of the place it chooses to live.
What the critics said
The numbers sit comfortably in the high range. Rotten Tomatoes reports an 84% Tomatometer score as of November 2022. Metacritic follows with an 81/100 Metascore, dated June 2023. That is solid ground for a horror film, a genre where the bar is usually set by jump scares and audience screams rather than critical consensus.
How it did with audiences
Warner Bros. expected a flop. They had little faith in a horror film without major stars that had blown its $12 million budget. They opened it on just 30 screens in 24 theaters, mostly in big cities. The audience disagreed. It grossed $1.9 million in its first week, smashing records in every venue. Within a month, it had pulled in $7.4 million nationwide. Executives scrambled to expand to 366 screens, a strategy usually reserved for exploitation films. It ultimately took $441 million worldwide. On TMDB, users rate it 7.7 out of 10. The studio underestimated the crowd, and the crowd was right.
Awards
The Exorcist picked up 7 awards from 10 nominations. It swept 4 of its 7 Golden Globe nods, including Best Motion Picture – Drama. The Academy gave it 2 Oscars: Best Adapted Screenplay for William Peter Blatty and Best Sound for Robert Knudson. Blatty thanked his parents and a deceased mentor, then complained in The Hollywood Reporter that the film didn’t win everything.
What came next for the cast
Ellen Burstyn arrived from The Last Picture Show. She left for Interstellar, Requiem for a Dream, and The Age of Adaline. Max von Sydow came from The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries. He departed for Shutter Island, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Minority Report. The credits cannot prove this film redirected their paths. They can only list what followed.
If you liked this
TMDB's recommendations for people who watched The Exorcist.
Sources
- The Exorcist on TMDB — synopsis, cast, ratings and recommendations
- Wikidata Q274167 — review scores, box office and awards (CC0)
- “The Exorcist” on Wikipedia, by its contributors (history) — reception, audience figures and legacy, summarised and adapted here under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Where to watch and prices: Binge Boss, from TMDB watch-provider data (powered by JustWatch) and our own provider list
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