Dead Poets Society is a 1989 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Tom Schulman.

The film, starring Robin Williams, is set in 1959 at a fictional elite boarding school called Welton Academy,[4] and tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.

A Welton alumnus who studied English Literature at Cambridge, Keating encourages his students to "seize the day", referencing the Latin expression carpe diem.

Upon learning that Keating had been a member of the unofficial Dead Poets Society during his time as a student at Welton, Neil restarts the club, and he and his friends sneak off campus to a cave, where they read poetry.

Knox pursues Chris Noel, a cheerleader who is dating Chet Danburry, a football player from a local public school, and whose family is friends with his.

Neil discovers his love of acting, and gets the role of Puck in a local production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, despite the disapproval of his controlling father, who wants him to attend Harvard to study medicine.

Keating helps Todd come out of his shell and realize his potential when he takes him through an exercise in self-expression, resulting in his spontaneously composing a poem in front of the class.

During the investigation, Cameron shifts blame onto Keating to avoid punishment for his role in the Dead Poets Society, and he names the other members of the group.

The original script was written by Tom Schulman, based on his experiences at the Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, particularly with his inspirational teacher, Samuel Pickering.

The website's critical consensus reads: "Affecting performances from the young cast and a genuinely inspirational turn from Robin Williams grant Peter Weir's prep school drama top honors".

[24] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade on a scale of A+ to F.[25] The Washington Post's reviewer called it "solid, smart entertainment", and praised Robin Williams for giving a "nicely restrained acting performance".

[26] Vincent Canby of The New York Times also praised Williams' "exceptionally fine performance", while writing that "Dead Poets Society... is far less about Keating than about a handful of impressionable boys".

"Robin Williams' performance is more graceful than anything he's done before [–] he's totally, concentratedly there – [he] reads his lines stunningly, and when he mimics various actors reciting Shakespeare there's no undue clowning in it; he's a gifted teacher demonstrating his skills.

He criticized Williams for spoiling an otherwise creditable dramatic performance by occasionally veering into his onstage comedian's persona, and lamented that for a film set in the 1950s, there was no mention of the Beat Generation writers popular among college students of the era.

He commented further on how literature was taught in the film (by Robin Williams's character John Keating), describing it as "the literary equivalent of fandom," and "anti-intellectual.

[49][50] After Robin Williams' death in August 2014, fans of his work used social media to pay tribute to him with photo and video reenactments of the film's final "O Captain!

[52] Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles feature prominently in the music video for "Fortnight" by American singer Taylor Swift from her album The Tortured Poets Department (2024), as a nod to the similarity between the two titles.

[54] A theatrical adaptation written by Tom Schulman and directed by John Doyle opened off-Broadway October 27, 2016, and ran through December 11, 2016.

[55] Jason Sudeikis starred as John Keating,[56] with Thomas Mann as Neil Perry, David Garrison as Gale Nolan, Zane Pais as Todd Anderson, Francesca Carpanini as Chris, Stephen Barker Turner as Mr. Perry, Will Hochman as Knox Overstreet, Cody Kostro as Charlie Dalton, Yaron Lotan as Richard Cameron, and Bubba Weiler as Steven Meeks.

[62] The ending of the film was parodied in the 2016 Saturday Night Live sketch, "Farewell, Mr. Bunting", with Fred Armisen playing Williams' role.

The sketch is a largely faithful recreation of the scene, until a student (Pete Davidson) is decapitated by a ceiling fan when he jumps on top of his desk.