The Devils (1971) poster
1971 · horror · drama · history

The Devils

Directed by Ken Russell1h 52m1971
ElsewhereIMDb7.720kRT77%Metacritic49TMDB7.4436
  • heavy
  • extreme
  • surreal
  • bleak
  • cold
  • signature
Movie DNA

Heavy, steady, extreme horror / drama, surreal in texture. Nihilistic, mid-stakes, cold, hand-scored across twelve axes of taste.

How every film is hand-scored →

A charismatic 17th-century French priest becomes the target of a sexually obsessed nun’s witchcraft accusations, which corrupt church and state officials are all too happy to exploit.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Our read · The Devils (1971) reads as a heavy, steady, surreal horror · drama · history entry — extreme in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook, with a strong directorial signature. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

Where the cast leads
Where to watch
Not on streaming here right now.Check JustWatch Check Letterboxd
More info & search links
Fingerprint

The shape of The Devils

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

You want feverish religious satire that assaults the senses without apology.

ends devastatingit will wreck youa rollercoastergrips by minute 5attention 5/5earns its length
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upexplicit sexnuditysexual violencegraphic violence

Skip it tonightSkip if nudity, blasphemy, or graphic torture will ruin your evening.

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
Your take
Rate it
star-clip-1-0star-clip-2-0star-clip-3-0star-clip-4-0star-clip-5-0
React
Discussion

Discussion

cmd enter to post

What does your Movie DNA look like?

Rate a few films you've seen. We map your taste across the same twelve axes and find the films you'll actually want to watch tonight.

Calibrate yourself