Dead Poets Society Left Us in Tears: Our First Time Watch Reaction

We watched Dead Poets Society for the first time and it wrecked us. We rated it a full 10 out of 10 by the end, and we were right to grab tissues before we started, because we did cry.

This one matters to us because we know how many people quote and reference this film without having seen it, and we wanted to experience the real thing for ourselves, jokes and all, before deciding what we actually thought of it.

We gave Dead Poets Society a perfect score after the ending hit us hard

By the time the credits rolled we said, "10 out of 10. That's all I have to say about that." Earlier in the reaction we had already promised tears were coming, joking "told you there'd be tears" once the film's darker turns arrived, and the ending more than delivered on that promise.

Robin Williams reined himself in to build what we called a safe space as Mr. Keating

We talked about how Robin Williams is usually boisterous, loud, eclectic and larger than life, but here he pulled all of that back, letting his eyes and his heart do the work instead. We felt he built an actual safe, warm space in that classroom, one that stood in sharp contrast to the rigid, tradition-bound school around it.

Kurtwood Smith's restrained work as Neil's father stood out to us

We singled out Kurtwood Smith's performance as Mr. Perry, noting that with very little dialogue to work with he still made his son's pain and his own fear land in a single look. We said, "That's so brilliant to me because one look was all we needed," pointing to the scene where he suddenly stops mid-sentence to Neil as one of the strongest pieces of quiet acting in the film.

The film's message about art and self-expression felt personal to us

We connected the movie's ideas about poetry, words and identity to how artists carried people through Covid isolation, saying it showed how much people cling to words, music and love when everything else falls away. The Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke scene where Todd is coaxed into shouting out his "barbaric yawp" stood out to us as especially moving, and we admitted it took us out emotionally.

We also said we wanted to see more of Knox's storyline play out, and we wondered aloud whether Robin Williams received awards recognition for the role.

Did the ending hit you the way it hit us, and do you think Robin Williams should have won more awards for this role?