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

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

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 ★★★★★ 12

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 josh rosenthal ★★★★★ 6

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 Jonathan White ★★★★★ 36

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 maria ★★★★½ 4

if young dustin hoffman proposed to me while yawing, i would immediately accept
Review by nick! ★★★★ 1

now do you know what a milf is
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 ★★★ 8

wow. wish i cared
Review by kayla ★★★★½ 4

Sorry but I never want to hear another Simon and Garfunkel song ever again
Review by katie ★★★★★ 2

The Saduate (1967) dir. Mike Nichols
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…

Recent reviews

Review by jspaan ★★★★½

Pretty cool. I think if this film is a period piece then it is quite relevant in 2021 given the sort of generational divide and uncertainty facing young people once again. Since I'm dumb, I expected the '60s camerawork to be sort of stodgy but it's really inventive and playful, stark and beautiful. It really captures the washed-out heat of California in the summer and the feeling of driving up and down the coast. The protagonist is sort of polarizing in a Holden Caulfield way...
The soundtrack is obviously amazing. To everyone complaining -- I wish they had played Scarborough Fair two more times.
Review by Adam Davenport ★★★★½

At least once a year I just crave watching this movie very badly. I never get tired of it.
Review by Brian Rich ★½

Every cinematic cliche, every formula plot device, every pseudo-intellectual ploy, every sentimental gimmick, every prefabricated, sure-fire boxoffice ingredient designed to empty pocketbooks and dampen hankies is present in this despicable movie.
Review by CuidadoDoySpoilers ★★★★

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

La única cosa que no me encanta en esta película es el hecho de que Elaine y Ben se enamoren tanto, como que no me llega a convencer, de un segundo a otro la película te dice que están enamorados pero no se siente así, no es muy creíble. Ahora, en cuanto a todo el resto de la película: la amé, los personajes (en especial benjamin y la señora robinson), la música, la cinematografía, el humor, todo es muy bueno y muy de mi gusto. Por cierto, necesito encontrar un sinónimo de "película" que me guste y no suene pretencioso porque siento que a veces repito mucho la misma palabra :p.
Review by fiona’s apple ★★★★½

this was just chaotic and perfect
Review by Pedro Machado ★★★★★

Rhetoric and Film #16
Review by camillejamilla ★★★★½

i was encouraged to watch this from one of my film teachers as we were discussing some of the iconic shots (the leg scene of course) and use of rack focus in a lot of the scenes and i honestly did not think i’d enjoy it as much as i did. the ending scene was just perfect, we spend most of the movie rooting for them, cheering them on and hoping eventually ben will find a way to win her back. we’re so focused on ben’s journey on finding elaine before the wedding that it’s not until that ending sequence when the energy settles and the music fades in where the audience, much like ben and elaine start to realize…
Review by EAC ★★★★½

I really liked this movie. I LOVE Dustin Hoffman's performance, as I always seem to gravitate towards almost sarcastic acting (much like Kevin Spacey in American Beauty). The first half of this film is perfection, and the second half is also great, but it does get a little messy I think. I would've liked to see a bit more of Benjamin and Elaine, just so I could buy their relationship a tad more, but other than that, this was pretty damn good.
Review by istevens ★★★★

If I could make a movie with Simon and Garfunkel songs I’d play every song 4 times too
Review by bjabs ★★★★½

Here’s to you Mrs Robinson....probably my favorite “old” movie
Review by selabo ★★★★★

The soundtrack listen. The pool when adina said so good it’s from his point of view angle camera. Also soundtrack. Also he’s idk.
Review by london

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

ur telling me bro has an affair w her mom and then STALKS her at her college and then they try to get married ?¿
but anyways that last last sequence was absolutely beautiful. the camera work so memorable.
her mom was a really cool milf.
this shit was funny lol