“The Exorcist” (1973) is one of the most critically and commercially successful – and

analyzed – horror films of all time, a still-terrifying tale of a teenage child possessed

by an ancient evil demon. Following “78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene” (2017), a

feature-length documentary on the iconic “Psycho” (1960) murder sequence,

Alexandre O. Philippe puts “The Exorcist” director William Friedkin through an

extended interview, providing an intensely personal look at the film’s genesis.

Friedkin is an endlessly erudite and candid guide to a film that moves beyond the

mystery of faith into fate, exploring how spiritual conviction and a belief in destiny

have steered his creative choices. He shares exclusive reveals and connects the

power of “The Exorcist” to unexpected artistic sources: not supernatural horror

movies, but Carl Dreyer’s austere 1955 spiritual drama “Ordet,” as well as great

painters (Caravaggio, Magritte) and composers (Brahms). It’s an unmissable insider-

look at creativity and filmmaking, which contends with the forces of fate and

inspiration.