A 55-Year-Old Film That Offended Everyone Is Back—and This Time It’s a Hit

Ken Russell’s The Devils, originally released in 1971, has returned to theaters in an uncensored 4K restoration and become one of the year’s most talked-about films, according to Next Best Picture. The film, based on John Whiting’s play and Aldous Huxley’s non-fiction book The Devils of Loudun, tells the story of 17th-century priest Urbain Grandier, played by Oliver Reed, and the alleged demonic possessions and witchcraft trial in Loudun, France. Warner Bros. took over production after United Artists passed on Russell’s screenplay, and the film was shot largely at Pinewood Studios in London, where Derek Jarman made his cinema production design debut recreating the city of Loudun.

The film faced heavy censorship in both the UK and the US. Warner Bros. excised two complete sequences before submission, and the BBFC required trims to nudity and violence for an X certificate, resulting in a roughly 111-minute UK cut that was still banned in some parts of the country. The MPAA demanded an additional three minutes of cuts for a US X rating, and a further cut-down version was submitted two years later to secure an R rating for a double bill with The Exorcist. Russell objected to the American edits, calling them incoherent.

Film critic Mark Kermode located missing footage in the British Warner archives, including the sequence known as the Rape of Christ, and the complete version—approximately four minutes longer than the UK theatrical edit—was screened for the first time with Russell in attendance in 2004. Select event screenings followed, but no commercial release materialized. The BFI released the UK theatrical cut on DVD in 2012, while US streamers carried the American edit.

Clockwork, the studio’s new specialty division, clarified that the 4K upgrade would be the uncensored version. Kermode made a rare Cannes appearance to accompany the world premiere, and the film became one of the festival’s hottest tickets. It continued on the festival circuit, including a 35mm screening at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, before a theatrical re-release in multiple markets. The US run, originally planned for one week starting October 16, was extended by seven days due to high attendance, and Warner Bros. later announced the North American run would continue indefinitely by popular demand. The film carries an NC-17 rating, which Next Best Picture described as a badge of honor.

Far Out Magazine noted that the re-release has sparked a wave of memes online, with posts focusing on Oliver Reed as Grandier, including a shirtless, blood-covered image described as an example of his attractiveness. The BFI’s trailer uses the track Pyramids by Naulka and draws on aesthetics associated with The Substance and Charli XCX’s brat. The magazine described the film’s explicit mix of religion and sex, including nuns engaging in an orgy and using a crucifix for pleasure, as material certain to provoke strong reactions.