Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
2019·Documentary·1h 45m
7.1
★
A lyrical and spiritual cinematic essay on The Exorcist, the last film of Alexandre O. Philippe explores the uncharted depths of William Friedkin’s mind’s eye, the nuances of his filmmaking process, and the mysteries of faith and fate that have shaped his life and filmography.
Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe
the exorcist
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
William Friedkin
Self
Crew
Alexandre O. Philippe
Director
Alexandre O. Philippe
Writer
Karyn Kusama
Executive Producer
Phil Hay
Executive Producer
Popular Reviews
13 reviews
Josh skywalkerPRO
So the exorcist for me as a 6 year old deeply terrified me OBVIOUSLY but simultaneously hypnotised me and as i have gotten older i realised it is essential to my getting into films like potentially moreso than any other film besides maybe mikey and nicky but especially horrors i thought i couldnt love it more than when i did as a 6 year old then i rewatched it as i got older every year maybe id say and each time i loved it that bit more it terrified me everytime but something about it and the way its made and so surgically crafted kept bringing me in then i watched it again when i got letterboxd so id say 2022 and i was like ye i cant love this film anymore than i do like how i did when i was a kid.
Then i watched the directors cut and loved it even more then eventually the 4K enhanced and updated version and guess what i loved it even more and it STILL fuckin terrified me eventually i reached a point where i was like i need more of this film and whatever drug that is in this film because i just couldn’t get enough, Friedkin described this film as being made my the movie gods he said he couldn't have made it without his faith because everything that was selected for this film just was right everything fit and was perfect to his vision and i wanna swing with the deity sorta effect Friedkin had when putting it together and say i think its why i love this film so much like i can explain alot as to why but could never convey my true deep unyielding love for it so its just gotta be a higher power 😂
Anyways! Because i wanted more i read the Peter Blattys book the dam thing that birthed this film and holy fuck my love for it reached a whole new level so i watched exorcist 2 just cos i needed more obviously i knew they'd never compare and i was dam right on heretic for that, i think that film is a fuckin insult to humanity then i watched exorcist 3 which i fuckin ADORED and because there was more references to the first exorcist book i loved the exorcist even more.
So i started to think that maybe its just the concept of the film and how immersive and real it feels despite being so profound and crazy and the fact that within it exists so much like confronting faith, confronting grief, overcoming demons and trauma and finding peace and eventually hope for regan after karris’ sacrifice maybe i just love the story as a whole and everyway its told because its both the scariest but also weirdly maybe the most beautiful film ive ever watched and finally i thought my love for the exorcist finally reached its peak…
Until i watched this fuckin documentary and now i love it even more i love the process behind EVERYTHING that Friedkin adapted from the book i loved all the subtle foreshadowing i love all the character writing and i just fuckin love the exorcist it really is a one of a kind film that doesnt always feel like a horror but just like something so much more.
Only part i disagree with friedkin and had a problem with here is how he didnt like Blattys ending of karris forcing the demon to take over him where in a last ditch effort to save regan he drops everything to see his mum in the afterlife and atone for all his sins which thankfully was still kept in the film. But other than that i think what friedkin did for this film is perfect.
Rip to both: 🕊️🤍
William Peter Blatty
And
William Friedkin
Then i watched the directors cut and loved it even more then eventually the 4K enhanced and updated version and guess what i loved it even more and it STILL fuckin terrified me eventually i reached a point where i was like i need more of this film and whatever drug that is in this film because i just couldn’t get enough, Friedkin described this film as being made my the movie gods he said he couldn't have made it without his faith because everything that was selected for this film just was right everything fit and was perfect to his vision and i wanna swing with the deity sorta effect Friedkin had when putting it together and say i think its why i love this film so much like i can explain alot as to why but could never convey my true deep unyielding love for it so its just gotta be a higher power 😂
Anyways! Because i wanted more i read the Peter Blattys book the dam thing that birthed this film and holy fuck my love for it reached a whole new level so i watched exorcist 2 just cos i needed more obviously i knew they'd never compare and i was dam right on heretic for that, i think that film is a fuckin insult to humanity then i watched exorcist 3 which i fuckin ADORED and because there was more references to the first exorcist book i loved the exorcist even more.
So i started to think that maybe its just the concept of the film and how immersive and real it feels despite being so profound and crazy and the fact that within it exists so much like confronting faith, confronting grief, overcoming demons and trauma and finding peace and eventually hope for regan after karris’ sacrifice maybe i just love the story as a whole and everyway its told because its both the scariest but also weirdly maybe the most beautiful film ive ever watched and finally i thought my love for the exorcist finally reached its peak…
Until i watched this fuckin documentary and now i love it even more i love the process behind EVERYTHING that Friedkin adapted from the book i loved all the subtle foreshadowing i love all the character writing and i just fuckin love the exorcist it really is a one of a kind film that doesnt always feel like a horror but just like something so much more.
Only part i disagree with friedkin and had a problem with here is how he didnt like Blattys ending of karris forcing the demon to take over him where in a last ditch effort to save regan he drops everything to see his mum in the afterlife and atone for all his sins which thankfully was still kept in the film. But other than that i think what friedkin did for this film is perfect.
Rip to both: 🕊️🤍
William Peter Blatty
And
William Friedkin
So the exorcist for me as a 6 year old deeply terrified me OBVIOUSLY but simultaneously hypnotised me and as i have gotten older i realised it is essential to my getting into films like potentially moreso than any other film besides maybe mikey and nicky but especially horrors i thought i couldnt love it more than when i did as a 6 year old then i rewatched it as i got older every year maybe id say and each time i loved it that bit more it terrified me everytime but something about it and the way its made and so surgically crafted kept bringing me in then i watched it again when i got letterboxd so id say 2022 and i was like ye i cant love this film anymore than i do like how i did when i was a kid.
Then i watched the directors cut and loved it even more then eventually the 4K enhanced and updated version and guess what i loved it even more and it STILL fuckin terrified me eventually i reached a point where i was like i need more of this film and whatever drug that is in this film because i just couldn’t get enough, Friedkin described this film as being made my the movie gods he said he couldn't have made it without his faith because everything that was selected for this film just was right everything fit and was perfect to his vision and i wanna swing with the deity sorta effect Friedkin had when putting it together and say i think its why i love this film so much like i can explain alot as to why but could never convey my true deep unyielding love for it so its just gotta be a higher power 😂
Anyways! Because i wanted more i read the Peter Blattys book the dam thing that birthed this film and holy fuck my love for it reached a whole new level so i watched exorcist 2 just cos i needed more obviously i knew they'd never compare and i was dam right on heretic for that, i think that film is a fuckin insult to humanity then i watched exorcist 3 which i fuckin ADORED and because there was more references to the first exorcist book i loved the exorcist even more.
So i started to think that maybe its just the concept of the film and how immersive and real it feels despite being so profound and crazy and the fact that within it exists so much like confronting faith, confronting grief, overcoming demons and trauma and finding peace and eventually hope for regan after karris’ sacrifice maybe i just love the story as a whole and everyway its told because its both the scariest but also weirdly maybe the most beautiful film ive ever watched and finally i thought my love for the exorcist finally reached its peak…
Until i watched this fuckin documentary and now i love it even more i love the process behind EVERYTHING that Friedkin adapted from the book i loved all the subtle foreshadowing i love all the character writing and i just fuckin love the exorcist it really is a one of a kind film that doesnt always feel like a horror but just like something so much more.
Only part i disagree with friedkin and had a problem with here is how he didnt like Blattys ending of karris forcing the demon to take over him where in a last ditch effort to save regan he drops everything to see his mum in the afterlife and atone for all his sins which thankfully was still kept in the film. But other than that i think what friedkin did for this film is perfect.
Rip to both: 🕊️🤍
William Peter Blatty
And
William Friedkin
Then i watched the directors cut and loved it even more then eventually the 4K enhanced and updated version and guess what i loved it even more and it STILL fuckin terrified me eventually i reached a point where i was like i need more of this film and whatever drug that is in this film because i just couldn’t get enough, Friedkin described this film as being made my the movie gods he said he couldn't have made it without his faith because everything that was selected for this film just was right everything fit and was perfect to his vision and i wanna swing with the deity sorta effect Friedkin had when putting it together and say i think its why i love this film so much like i can explain alot as to why but could never convey my true deep unyielding love for it so its just gotta be a higher power 😂
Anyways! Because i wanted more i read the Peter Blattys book the dam thing that birthed this film and holy fuck my love for it reached a whole new level so i watched exorcist 2 just cos i needed more obviously i knew they'd never compare and i was dam right on heretic for that, i think that film is a fuckin insult to humanity then i watched exorcist 3 which i fuckin ADORED and because there was more references to the first exorcist book i loved the exorcist even more.
So i started to think that maybe its just the concept of the film and how immersive and real it feels despite being so profound and crazy and the fact that within it exists so much like confronting faith, confronting grief, overcoming demons and trauma and finding peace and eventually hope for regan after karris’ sacrifice maybe i just love the story as a whole and everyway its told because its both the scariest but also weirdly maybe the most beautiful film ive ever watched and finally i thought my love for the exorcist finally reached its peak…
Until i watched this fuckin documentary and now i love it even more i love the process behind EVERYTHING that Friedkin adapted from the book i loved all the subtle foreshadowing i love all the character writing and i just fuckin love the exorcist it really is a one of a kind film that doesnt always feel like a horror but just like something so much more.
Only part i disagree with friedkin and had a problem with here is how he didnt like Blattys ending of karris forcing the demon to take over him where in a last ditch effort to save regan he drops everything to see his mum in the afterlife and atone for all his sins which thankfully was still kept in the film. But other than that i think what friedkin did for this film is perfect.
Rip to both: 🕊️🤍
William Peter Blatty
And
William Friedkin
hope
8.0★ · 03/24/26
the man was truly a master of his craft. a joy listening to him talk for almost two hours
the man was truly a master of his craft. a joy listening to him talk for almost two hours
AshleyPRO
Everything has to do with the mystery of fate or faith!!!!!!!!!!
Well yes I loved this. I could listen to him talk about faith, the questions in birth and mortality, the never-been-told tidbits from his experience directing, and movies alllllll day, good god.
Crisis of faith and tubular bells mention 🗣️
Well yes I loved this. I could listen to him talk about faith, the questions in birth and mortality, the never-been-told tidbits from his experience directing, and movies alllllll day, good god.
Crisis of faith and tubular bells mention 🗣️
Everything has to do with the mystery of fate or faith!!!!!!!!!!
Well yes I loved this. I could listen to him talk about faith, the questions in birth and mortality, the never-been-told tidbits from his experience directing, and movies alllllll day, good god.
Crisis of faith and tubular bells mention 🗣️
Well yes I loved this. I could listen to him talk about faith, the questions in birth and mortality, the never-been-told tidbits from his experience directing, and movies alllllll day, good god.
Crisis of faith and tubular bells mention 🗣️
Ash Lee
7.0★ · 10/29/25
Very interesting
Very interesting
Micah Lara
“All we know is we had nothing to say about our birth, we’ll no doubt have nothing to say about the time or place or means by which we die. Life is so ambiguous, which is why my films are.”
“All we know is we had nothing to say about our birth, we’ll no doubt have nothing to say about the time or place or means by which we die. Life is so ambiguous, which is why my films are.”