'Censor' Review
NR
Runtime: 1 Hr and 24 Minutes
Production Companies: Protagonist Pictures, Silver Salt Films, BFI Film Fund, Film4
Distributor: N/A
Director: Prano Bailey-Bond
Writer: Prano Bailey-Bond, Anthony Fletcher
Cast: Niamh Algar, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller, Michael Smiley
Release Date: TBD
Film censor Enid takes pride in her meticulous work, guarding unsuspecting audiences against the deleterious effects of watching the gore-filled decapitations and eye gougings she pores over. Her sense of duty to protect is amplified by guilt over her inability to recall details of the long-ago disappearance of her sister, recently declared dead in absentia. When Enid is assigned to review a disturbing film from the archive that echoes her hazy childhood memories, she begins to unravel how this eerie work might be tied to her past.
Writer/director Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor delves into the UK scene during the mid-’80s when low-budget horror b-movies were on the rise and the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association were censoring anything deemed too violent or explicit by either cutting or banning them entirely. Censor is a solo-driven tale that’s set on a film censor named Enid, a perfectionist who is focused solely on her work, giving each film the cut it deserves. No cut gets by her as she has to watch a new obscene and disturbing horror flick every day, which rarely affects her. But when one horror movie triggers a traumatic event from her childhood regarding the disappearance of her sister, she decides to investigate if a filmmaker’s filmography is linked to her own past.
As a Gen-Z American who was born yesterday, Censor informed me about a piece of film history I was unfamiliar with while also being a passionate love letter to that era. It accurately depicts the societal issues in Britain at the time, some of which are still relevant today. Whenever a murder is committed, it immediately gets linked to the latest movie that features any sort of violent content. It’s a story we’ve heard far too many times (sometimes even with music or video games), so when a murder is committed and fingers point to the people who passed the film, Enid specifically gets blamed, for she’s in charge of the censoring. Though it’s a subtle thing that happens in the background and doesn’t add much to the story itself, it makes the film feel more authentic to the setting and also impacts Enid’s arc.
Censor is pretty rad from a visual standpoint. It often plays with its consistently low key lighting with dark, muted colors as Enid navigates through mid-’80s Britain. It also pays homage to the style of horror at the time by mimicking the practical effects, including gore, the film grading, and the letterboxed aspect ratio. The artsy transitions go from the letterbox ratio to widescreen via the environments from the movie she’s reviewing, fading from the grainy VHS screen to the next location in an effective manner.
Though the film is relatively short, it’s a well-paced slow burn. Her descent into madness — a mix of her obsession with her sister’s disappearance and the exposure to these violent horror movies that hit way too close to home — hardly feels rushed.
While I enjoyed Censor for what it was, I’d say it’s a rather safe film that doesn’t deliver its full potential despite its strong premise. The gory violence and psychological horror arrive a bit late while the social environment is completely pushed to the background. It stays in its own safe lane when you know it could be daring and deliver powerful commentary on media influence in a more effective fashion. Censor is an entertaining psychological horror that pays homage to the “video nasty” era and horror scene in the ‘80s in a passionate and artsy manner. Its execution could’ve been better but nevertheless, it's fun to watch.
