THE DEVILS (dir. Ken Russell, 1971) sits somewhere at the pointy top end of my list of ‘The Best Films of All Time’, and that’s despite the film being eviscerated by censors at the time of its release… until now!

This is the day I thought would never come. I had good reason to be pessimistic. Even Ken Russell, the film’s visionary maker, said: “It’s a lost film now. You’ll never see it the way I wanted you to. Never.”

But with a little bit of persistence and magic on the behalf of supporters (including film critic Mark Kermode and Russell’s wife, Lisi) and a backflip on behalf of the studio, THE DEVILS uncut is due to be born.

It debuted to rapturous audiences at Cannes 2026 as the inaugural release from Warner Bros’ new indie production and distribution arm, Warner Bros. Clockwork. Now, it’s getting general release worldwide in October (US on 16th October, Australia on 29th October and UK on 30th October).

I will be seeing it and I will have something to say. In the meantime, I invite you to read the original in-depth article I wrote for Screen Magazine documenting THE DEVILS’ controversial journey thus far; an epic journey that commenced 55 years ago.