Censor (2021)
Horror about horror is definitely on the rise, and setting a film right in the middle of the 80s during the video nasty censorship controversies is a perfect fit for this type of thing. It is really slow going, deadpan acting, and little clichéd withe the repressed childhood trauma trope, but while the film does have some debut-like flaws, I was drawn in enough to the era and premise to like it. What I especially like about it is that it yet another allegory where horror is used as a vehicle for something else. It is sort of that too, but it is also very concretely about censorship and a specific point in time that I suspect most horror fans have some opinion on. The film doesn’t give straight answers either. I think the film could be read both ways, as a defense of the need for some censorship and as a case for full artistic freedom. There is enough ambiguity to how the whole narrative turns out, where horror from reality blends with horror from the screen, washing out the boundaries. Still, there is definitely much more potential to this premise than we get here. It is mostly presenting the basics of the arguments on censorship. It doesn’t go far enough to really change any viewers world view.
Rating: 3.5