The Exorcist (1973)
1973
R
122 Minutes
12-year-old Regan MacNeil begins to adapt an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate...
User Review
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William Friedkin's piece is a masterpiece in tone and tension. The film takes a while to actually get to the possession. We begin in a loud, unrelenting Iraq, then move to America, seeing dinner parties and film sets and family time; essentially nothing supernatural. Yet, there is something about Regan's drawings, something about that mighty statue in the Iraq desert, that makes us uncomfortable. So when we first see Regan at the party, we know that evil has arrived
The film makes us question the possibility of faith. If there is an evil, which cannot be countered by any form of science, then the evil must be part of reality. This film is grounded in reality. The family's life is normal and pleasant. But in the face of the seemingly unreal, one can only defeat it by accepting it as the truth.
Yet, if this extraordinary evil exists, its counterpart must too. Father Karras goes through one of the most compelling battles of faith, in the end becoming an embodiment of good itself.
This film is flawless in performances, in sound design, in makeup, in editing; it is a perfect exercise in tension which goes the extra mile by making the audience question elements to life itself.1 member likes this review.
