Cannes 2026 Classics: Ken Russell’s The Devils and Pan’s Labyrinth

The Cannes Classics program has become one of its most interesting sections, offering restorations of great films from around the world, and they slotted arguably the hottest ticket on the Croisette this year in “Ken Russell’s The Devils,” a complete version of the masterful director’s controversial film. Released theatrically in October 2026, it will serve as the launch of Clockwork, a branch of WB dedicated to this kind of thing, and it sets the bar as high as possible for this new brand. People have been asking for a full version of “The Devils” for decades, and the result is absolutely mesmerizing, a 4K restoration from the original camera negative that amplifies the film’s remarkable production design.

Russell’s film has been accurately praised for what can only be called its fury: it’s a movie that looks at the conflict between church and state and wants to burn it all down, but only after the orgy. This uncut version, which restores the infamous “Rape of Christ” sequence along with an amazing beat at the end that I won’t spoil just in case you haven’t read about it, feels angrier than ever. A filmmaker friend told me the night before that he had seen Russell’s film fifty times but felt like he had never really seen it until this viewing. And it’s not just the new footage: it’s the complete package, one that is going to drive nails into the hands of moviegoers later this year.

Famous critic Mark Kermode introduced the film by saying that Russell saw it as his only political film, but this masterpiece was so controversial that it never really reached theaters in the form preferred by the filmmaker until 2004, when Kermode helped him assemble the director’s cut for the first time. The years since saw further restoration, and fans will now be able to experience something that has been a sort of Holy Grail for movie lovers for half a century.

Based loosely on true events in the French city of Loudon in the 17th century, “The Devils” is the story of Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed), a charismatic priest who becomes the enemy of the flamboyant King Louis XIII (Graham Armitage) and Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue). When a nun named Sister Jeanne des Anges (a fearless Vanessa Redgrave) accuses Grandier of being a demonic figure who has warped her convent into a carnal fury, the exorcisms and the tortures begin. Before you know it, naked nuns are writhing all over Derek Jarman’s spectacular sets, and “The Devils” forces viewers to question to whom the title refers: the creatures allegedly possessing these women or the men using them for their political needs.

“The Devils” is a righteously furious movie, a piece that works as a display of carnal depravity so intense that the censors chopped it up before releasing it, but also one that’s so subversively smart. It’s the kind of film that you’re unpacking thematically while watching nuns hump a statue of Jesus Christ.

In other words, it’s a lot of movie, and now we can finally experience all that Russell wanted us to experience. Get thee to an arthouse.

You should also take the chance to see Guillermo del Toro’s 20th anniversary restoration of his masterpiece, “Pan’s Labyrinth” later this year, although he’s still working on polishing it up to an even more pristine version than the one that opened Cannes on Tuesday. It’s hard to believe it could look better than this edition. What’s most striking this time is the intensification of the color palettes from the greens in the woods to the cold blues that surround the evil Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez), but the whole thing just looks better than ever.

It’s also notable how timeless “Pan’s” looks in 2026 thanks to its reliance on practical effects, make-up, and production design instead of special effects. It sounds clichéd, but it quite literally hasn’t aged a day, and its themes feel as timely as ever. “Pan’s Labyrinth” is a film about courage in the face of evil; it is about holding onto hope in a time of darkness and believing that there are forces beyond our comprehension that can keep the monsters locked away. I found it more moving than I ever have before, a reminder of the power of storytelling to comment on our reality by transporting us to a fantasy.

For many, “Pan’s” is the film that broke Guillermo del Toro. Arthouse goers knew about the quality of “Cronos” and “The Devil’s Backbone” (and a lot of people loved “Hellboy,” while some of us loved “Blade II”) but this is the one that truly revealed his storytelling gifts.

Watching “Pan’s” in 2026 also feels rewarding in terms of how his career moved from there to here. One can see the wonder that would grow in different ways in projects like “Crimson Peak,” “The Shape of Water,” and “Frankenstein.” Guillermo del Toro loves his monsters because he sees us in them. He is a crafter of fantasies, but there’s a human core in all of his best work and watching this one with not only him but star Ivana Baquero in the room added to the emotional impact.

I can’t hide my love for this film so don’t consider this an unbiased opinion, but I’m hopeful that this restoration will bring “Pan’s Labyrinth” to a new generation, opening doors to imagination the way it did for the last. I know I’m taking my kids to see it again.

Finally, there’s the very different **“Moonlighting,” **from Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski. Released in 1982, this Jeremy Irons-led dramedy was a hit with Siskel & Ebert, the latter giving it four stars and the former naming it his #1 film of that year. It hasn’t held up as well as that trivia might imply, but it’s still an effective study of an exploited work force at a time of international tumult. And a reminder that Irons has been hitting home runs for over four decades.

The Oscar winner is wonderfully fidgety as Nowak, an electrician who has come to London in 1981 with three Polish workers who speak no English and aren’t really allowed to be working there. They’ve been hired as cheap labor to renovate a house, but only Nowak really knows the extent of the danger. If they’re caught, they’ll be kicked out of the country, and the project will fail. He tries to keep them hidden as costs rise to such a degree that Nowak has to devise an elaborate shoplifting scheme at the grocery store nearby to keep them from starving to death. While this is happening, martial law is declared back in Poland, stranding Nowak even further. These are men without a home, trying to build one for someone rich.

Skolimowski keeps “Moonlighting” humming in terms of pace, and he wrote a witty script, but literally none of this works without what Irons brings to it. Not only does he narrate the entire thing, but he embodies the kind of instinctual working-class leader who does what it takes to get a job done. When he’s cut off from his homeland and his cash, he improvises, finding new ways to get through each day. In that sense, it’s a story that feels timely as immigration debates rage and we hear new stories about abused workforces every day. There are a lot of Nowaks out there.