The Graduate

1967 Directed by Mike Nichols

This is Benjamin. He's a little worried about his future.

Benjamin, a recent college graduate very worried about his future, finds himself in a love triangle with an older woman and her daughter.

Dustin Hoffman Anne Bancroft Katharine Ross Murray Hamilton Buck Henry Brian Avery Walter Brooke William Daniels Elizabeth Wilson Norman Fell Alice Ghostley Marion Lorne Eddra Gale Richard Dreyfuss Arthur Tovey William H. O'Brien Frank Baker Elisabeth Fraser Elaine May

Alternative Titles

Абсолвентът, Le Laureat, 졸업, El Graduado, Mezun, 畢業生

comedy drama

106 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★★½ 31

Almost forgot to post this but I recently rewatched this for my podcast and you can listen to my full thoughts here.
I was worried this wouldn’t hold up on a rewatch but it really does. Feels like the first time again every time I watch it. The cinematography is so beautiful, spaces are either too big or too small for Benjamin. Just wanted more Mrs. Robinson. And more than just just three Simon and Garfunkel songs that play over and over again. We get it, you’re going to Scarborough Fair.
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 14

100
"Are you thinking about graduate school?"
Listen, I'm not saying the moment where Benjamin and Elaine are speeding down a hellish, pitch-black freeway and screaming about their fears and doubts of the future is still relatable fifty fucking two years later, but it is.
Review by Jonathan White ★★★★★ 35

Mike Nichols, the multi-disciplined artist, passed away yesterday. When I read the news, I was amazed at how accomplished he was. Not only film, but stage and performance as well. He was one of the few who achieved the EGOT. Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. In fact, he had more Tony’s than any other stage director. Although he helmed many memorable films, there was none more memorable for me than The Graduate.
I don’t know when I first saw The Graduate, but I know I had seen it quite a few times before I was 16, as that was the age when I met my first love, Cheryl. Our first kiss, the first time we met, was magic. Soon we…
Review by Mary Conti ★★★★★ 16

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

**Part of the Best Picture Project**
1967 Special introduction of: Extreme sexuality, the new generation, and Mrs. Robinson's Robinsons.
So instead of boring you folks (and myself) with the regular ol' "Such a classic!" kind of review where I talk about the film's great sense of screenplay structure, Nichol's approach (which rightfully won him Best Director) that allows him to manipulate us visually while letting content decide for us, and how Dustin Hoffman is clearly the best actor of his generation (because he is), I want to approach this film from a different angle.
Has anyone considered that Benjamin is the villain of the film?
And no, I don't mean in recognizing at the famous final scene that the two…
Review by josh rosenthal ★★★★★ 5

i really, really, really loved this but i almost killed myself when Scarborough Fair started playing for the seventh time within ten minutes.
Review by maria ★★★★½ 4

if young dustin hoffman proposed to me while yawing, i would immediately accept
Review by katie ★★★★★ 4

I can't believe I got to see this on the big screen. I can't believe it. I'm still crying. Holy fucking shit.
Review by adrianbalboa ★★★ 5

wow. wish i cared
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★★ 9

Decades Project: 1/6 of the 60's
"It's like I was playing some kind of game, but the rules don't make any sense to me. They're being made up by all the wrong people. I mean no one makes them up. They seem to make themselves up."
The Graduate was so much weirder than I expected, and I don't mean because of all the sex stuff. It was weird in the best way possible. I (wrongly) assumed it would be a fairly traditional coming-of-age comedy. This is not the case at all—and not merely because it's exceptionally well built. The weirdest thing about The Graduate is the way it smuggles in satirical social commentary where you least expect it.
Straight from…
Review by nick! ★★★★

now do you know what a milf is
Review by katie ★★★★★ 2

The Saduate (1967) dir. Mike Nichols
Review by kayla ★★★★½ 4

Sorry but I never want to hear another Simon and Garfunkel song ever again

Recent reviews

Review by zaria ★★★★

i liked this movie a lot but i hated mrs.robinson she’s so annoying
Review by Sarah_Ali ★★★★½

When it comes to Symbolism, this movie is one of the best ..... please don't rush underestimating it.
Review by Diego Stoll ★★★★★

!!! Que peliculón por favor, la definición de timeless.
Review by Grace Dumdaw ★★★★

this man is white Jackie Chan
Review by Blaitmun ★★★½

Well-shot and acted. Looks good for a movie from the 60s to be fair.
Review by Mark J Jackman ★★★★★

A brilliant dark comedy with outstanding central performances. The leads are excellent in this, and the film perfectly sets up its comedic style and timing within the first 15 minutes and honestly I was hooked. Looked how insane it got and how stupid the ending was. It’s along the same branch as Lolita, however it’s less weird (slightly less weird).
Review by Film Watcher ★★★½

My first instinct is to label this film a blissfully stupid comedy, but on reflection I think that’s just a testament to how good Hoffman’s performance is here. Hoffman’s Benjamin is a hilariously naive virgin and his hapless, fumbling attempts at intimacy had me well and truly hollering. But, the stupidity inherent in his comic relief contributes to an otherwise intelligent- if sometimes implausible- philosophical tale of optimism competing with cynicism, romanticism with pragmatism, and order with chaos.
“Mrs Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?"
Review by Tony Tost ★★★★★

Best edited film ever?
Review by Pedrine ★★★★

Señora Bouvie
Review by GingerKid25 ★★★★

Should I just copy and paste the two page essay I had to write on this movie here? It was good, what else can I say?
Review by Julia Dwight ★★★★½

This, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays Elaine.
Review by PaulGurman ★★★★

The Graduate, A simp’s epic