A terrific film stays related no matter when it was launched, with lots of the classics exploring common themes that also resonate with audiences, no matter their era. On the similar time, movies can evolve in which means, with their themes reanalyzed by trendy contexts. This has grow to be very true with the rise of AI, a topic that cinema explored lengthy earlier than it grew to become a cultural actuality.
For the movie, Harold and Maude, it exists in an attention-grabbing sphere, with its darkish coming-of-age story to date faraway from the trendy panorama, however now turns into increasingly more related as a mirrored image on the present disaster many younger folks face in establishing relationships for themselves.
‘Harold and Maude’ has a Story and Themes That Nonetheless Resonate In the present day
Harold and Maude has come to be celebrated as a daring, contemplative, and humorous exploration of an unlikely pairing. Regardless of its cult standing, the film will not be universally well-known with trendy audiences, particularly contemplating its age. To know its lasting relevance, it’s important first to stipulate what it’s and its historical past.
Launched in 1971, the Hal Ashby-directed and Colin Higgins-scripted function would follow wealthy, younger Harold (Bud Cort), whose obsession with loss of life has made him disconnected from others, significantly concerning the prospect of romance, as his dad and mom tried to power suitors upon him. That’s, till he meets septuagenarian Maude whereas attending a funeral, and so they bond over their shared curiosity in loss of life. The 2 start an unconventional friendship that evolves into a posh romantic relationship.
Harold and Maude would initially be deemed a failure, performing poorly on the field workplace, with its subject material seen as contentious (which it’s) and its humor falling flat. But time has proven a movie that was very misunderstood. When trying previous the uncomfortable parts of the age-gap relationship, the film’s darkish wit and social commentary proved to make it a favourite amongst cult film followers, faculties, and residential video collectors, teams that may assure a movie obtains that timeless cult basic standing.
Whereas the movie’s macabre humor is unforgettable and important to its enduring success (Harold’s staged suicides to thrust back suitors are a comedic spotlight), what makes the film so enduring is its human core. It explores the eager for connection and the search for which means in life, whereas addressing themes of social isolation. It’s in inspecting this factor of Harold and Maude that it turns into extra related in a contemporary context than in its preliminary launch.
Isolation and Societal Disconnect within the Trendy Period Have Led to a Loneliness Epidemic
Whereas every period can declare to have its personal “epidemic” among the many youthful generations resulting from hyperbole and social tendencies, the present loneliness epidemic dealing with most youthful generations is well-documented. An early 2024 examine, carried out by the American Psychiatric Affiliation, confirmed that amongst these aged between 18 and 34, 30% of them had been stated to really feel lonely on daily basis or a number of occasions per week, with single adults having a better fee in comparison with these in {couples}.
Different research help this fairly grim image of how younger adults understand courting. Notably, in a 2025 Rasmussen ballot, 37% of single adults beneath 30 present no curiosity, or have given up on courting. A 2023 report from the CDC noticed an all-time historic low in beginning charges within the U.S., additional displaying the rising development of giving up on constructing a household.
Different, together with anecdotal, forces additionally contribute, from the rise of on-line incel and femcel communities, poisonous gender wars on social media, and financial pressures that make conventional household buildings appear unattainable. The explanations behind the proposed loneliness epidemic are nuanced; the purpose is that it exists. On this panorama, a movie like Harold and Maude feels well timed, because it acts as a reminder of how loneliness shapes human connections and also can maintain us again.
‘Harold and Maude’ Might Come From One other Period, However Its Exploration of Loneliness Stays Related
We’re far faraway from the ’70s, and there’s an simple disconnect at face worth between the tragic romance and loneliness of Harold and Maude and modern-day society. The digital age, particularly, has modified how we talk, and even the thought of assembly a possible associate in particular person with out going by a web-based courtship first is an idea that will create a disconnect within the story of Harold and Maude.
Nonetheless, while you look at the morality of the characters and their worldviews, the distinction in setting begins to make little or no distinction — Harold, who represents loss of life with out life by shutting himself off to the world and avoiding battle. In distinction, Maude represents life in defiance of loss of life by celebrating artwork and a rebellious spirit, making them two timelessly relatable characters with two drastically totally different views on life and loss of life.
Harold and Maude could not have related over Bumble, met at a Starbucks, and recorded their first date jitters for his or her social media. Nonetheless, the movie presents a profound human connection that anybody can expertise, one which took place by emotions of isolation and loneliness. That is significantly true from Harold’s perspective, who appears most inundated with the form of embrace of isolation as an id that has grow to be extra problematic within the digital age.
The film’s tragic ending also can feed into the thought of the unavailability of companions, particularly amongst those that have a type of idealized imaginative and prescient of how folks used to view relationships in previous generations and the way that has modified, even in the event you take a look at with the ability to construct a household on a single revenue. Alternatively, you can tie Harold’s unwillingness so far somebody exponentially older than her to the perceived lack of courting pool that each women and men expertise, which frequently makes them look past their ‘preferrred.’
What makes Harold and Maude resonate right now cannot get misplaced in its era-specific particulars; as a substitute, its exploration of loneliness, isolation, and the human want for connection stays prevalent. Even with out a single cellphone in sight, the movie captures the anxieties of recent relationships with a poignancy that may nonetheless shock audiences.
You possibly can stream Harold and Maude on Kanopy.