The Devils is back in theaters as a 4K restoration in the fall of 2026, carrying an NC-17 rating for graphic nudity, sexualized religious sequences, and medieval torture that is every bit as extreme as its 55-year reputation suggests [2, 5, 6].
Ken Russell's 1971 historical drama The Devils returned to theaters in October 2026 in its uncut 2004 director's restoration, earning an NC-17 rating and pulling in nearly $4 million at the domestic box office [4, 5]. It tells the true 17th-century story of a French priest accused of witchcraft by a corrupt state, packed with prolonged full-frontal nudity, sexualized exorcisms, and graphic torture including a man burned alive at the stake [1, 2, 5]. If you have a high school cinephile interested in the history of witchcraft trials or film censorship, works like The Crucible or A Man for All Seasons explore the exact same historical dynamics without the extreme NC-17 intensity.
For over five decades, The Devils was the ultimate cinephile white whale. Directed by British provocateur Ken Russell and starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, the film was heavily censored in the UK, slapped with an X rating in the US even after cuts in 1971, and buried in studio vaults for decades [5].
In October 2026, Warner Bros. put the restored 4K version into theaters, returning to the 2004 cut reconstructed under Russell and editor Michael Bradsell [4, 5, 6]. What started as a specialty engagement turned into an indie box-office hit, pulling in $3.8 million domestically through Halloween weekend and prompting Warner Bros. to tease a November 10 home-release announcement [5]. If a teenager in your house is into film history, horror-adjacent cinema, or movies with a "banned for 50 years" mystique, that box-office run is why it is suddenly on their radar [5].
Unlike traditional horror movies that rely on jump scares, The Devils is a historical psychological drama with a feverish, loud, and deliberately grotesque tone [1, 2]. Beneath the shock value, it is a sharp, darkly funny indictment of political corruption and weaponized religious hysteria [1, 5]. Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed) tries to protect the self-governing city of Loudun from Cardinal Richelieu and the French state [1, 5]. When Sister Jeanne des Anges (Vanessa Redgrave), a sexually repressed abbess with a curved spine, accuses Grandier of bewitching her convent, the state uses the hysteria to stage a show trial and crush the town [1, 5].
The MPA rated the 2026 restoration NC-17 specifically for sexual content and graphic nudity, though the violence is equally extreme [2, 5]. Here is what is actually on screen:
- Graphic torture and execution: During the interrogation and trial sequences, Grandier's tongue is pierced and cut, and wooden wedges are driven into his legs with a heavy hammer to shatter his bones [1]. The climax depicts him burned alive at the stake in close-up as his face blisters and chars [1, 2].
- Sexualized religious hysteria: Extended sequences feature fully nude nuns running through a chapel for five to ten minutes, performing graphic sexual acts and desecrating a large life-sized crucifix [2]. Dream sequences also mix Christ's crucifixion with sexual imagery [1, 2].
- Invasive "exorcisms": In one of the film's most brutal scenes, nuns are stripped, dragged onto an altar, and subjected to forced internal examinations and medieval enema syringes between their legs under the guise of driving out demons [1, 2].
- Plague and self-harm: The opening third shows close-ups of rotting plague bodies tossed into mass pits, maggot-filled skulls, wasps applied in jars to a naked woman's skin as a medical "cure," and nuns whipping themselves or digging a crucifix into their palms [2].
When an older teen asks about The Devils, they are usually drawn to one of two things: the history of how states weaponize mass hysteria, or the history of wild, transgressive cinema. You can lean directly into either interest with films that share the DNA.
Arthur Miller's adaptation of the Salem witch trials stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder, and it covers the exact same psychological territory as Loudun: repressed desire turning into public accusation, and authority figures using a spiritual panic to settle political scores. Rated PG-13, it hits the historical and political beats cleanly, making it a staple in our digital guide for high school.
One of the surprising truths about The Devils is that while it was condemned as blasphemous in 1971, it treats genuine faith with immense respect [1]. Grandier refuses to confess to lies even under torture, finding real grace at the end [1]. Fred Zinnemann's Oscar-winning drama about Sir Thomas More standing up to King Henry VIII captures that exact same clash between individual conscience and state power, suitable for middle and high schoolers.
If your 16- or 17-year-old is coming at this from an art-house horror angle, Robert Eggers's R-rated debut is the modern benchmark for historical religious dread. It uses period-accurate 17th-century dialogue to show a family tearing itself apart through paranoia. It is unsettling and mature, without crossing into the prolonged torture-and-exploitation territory of Russell's film.
Build a custom list of historical dramas and smart thrillers for older teens
If you have an older teen who reads film criticism or follows boutique restoration labels, the 55-year battle over The Devils is a fascinating case study in how ratings boards work [5]. Even if they aren't watching the movie yet, the censorship history itself is great dinner-table material.
The film's fiercest defenders, including British critic Mark Kermode (who helped reconstruct the 2004 cut), have argued for decades that the movie was suppressed not because it was anti-religious, but because it exposed how politicians hijack religion to consolidate power [1, 5]. Ask your teen why a studio would fund an expensive historical epic and then lock it in a vault for half a century, or how the line between "artistic satire" and "unwatchable provocation" has shifted between 1971 and 2026 [5]. If they want to read the source material first, Russell based the screenplay partly on Aldous Huxley's 1952 nonfiction book The Devils of Loudun, which examines the historical records with dry, philosophical wit.
Q: Why is The Devils rated NC-17 in 2026?
The Motion Picture Association rated the 2026 restored cut NC-17 for "sexual content/graphic nudity" [2, 5]. The film includes multi-minute sequences of full-frontal female and brief male nudity, nude nuns performing sexual acts on a crucifix, invasive forced "exorcisms," and graphic medieval torture [1, 2].
Q: What age is The Devils (2026) for?
The Devils is strictly for adults (18+) and perhaps the most mature 17-year-old cinephiles who specifically study film history [1, 2]. In the US, the NC-17 rating means theaters will not admit anyone under 17, even with a parent.
Q: Is The Devils a horror movie or a historical drama?
It is a historical psychological drama filmed with the visual intensity of an extreme horror movie [1, 3, 4]. Based on the real 1634 Loudun possessions in France, it follows the political show trial of Father Urbain Grandier, blending dark political satire with grotesque body horror and religious mania [1, 2, 5].
Q: When is The Devils (2026) coming to streaming or Blu-ray?
Following its October 2026 theatrical run, Warner Bros. teased an announcement for November 10, 2026, using vintage VHS artwork [4, 5]. While the studio hasn't confirmed as of early November whether that date brings digital VOD, subscription streaming, or a physical 4K Blu-ray, home-viewing details are imminent [5].
The Devils is a fierce, unsubtle, and genuinely brilliant piece of 1970s filmmaking that earned every inch of its NC-17 rating [5]. For adult movie lovers, the 2026 restoration is a triumph of film preservation [5, 6]. For families, it is an easy one to leave for the grown-ups while pointing curious high schoolers toward our best movies for kids and teens list or sharper historical dramas like The Crucible.