Sundance Review: Censor is a Riveting Horror Feature of Paranoid Delusions – The Film Stage

It is hard to think of a recent horror filmor a film of any genre, reallyin which the main character is tasked with a job as original and ingenious as Enid Baines, the protagonist of Prano Bailey-Bonds riveting Censor. She is, yes, the titular censor. It is 1980s England, the time of video nasties that drew parental consternation and tabloid outrage. These were the low-budget, ultra-violent VHS cassettes that earned their own category in the collective consciousness. Not all were UK productionsI Spit On Your Grave and Abel Ferraras Driller Killer made the list. In Censor, however, the nasties are homegrown, in more ways than one.

Given the climate, the job of a censor is a tricky one. As Censor begins, a quiet, by-the-book young woman, Enid (Niamh Algar), watches a rather typical, fuzzy-screened entry with a colleague. This one features a girl on the run from a killerand some choice commentary from Enid: The decapitation is ridiculous Its the gouging thats too realistic Some things should be left to the imagination. Her colleague does not seem too perturbed, but Enid treats their task much more seriously: We cant afford to make mistakes. Is Enids thought-process fueled by morality, or by the knowledge that they, the censors, are being watched just like the filmmakers? After all, following a long day of work, Enid is greeted on her television by conservative politicians shouting, These violent films are ruining societys moral fabric.

Bailey-Bond, who co-wrote the film with Anthony Fletcher, nicely illustrates the grimness of this time period. Margaret Thatcher barks on TV, the tunnels Enid passes through each day are gray and foreboding, and the tube is home to arguments and stares. It is no wonder that viewers got off on the idea of films that caused upset and controversy. It is also no wonder that censors like Enid come under fire when a murderer dubbed the Amnesiac Killer was said to be influenced by a film she and her colleagues passedwith edits, but still. Suddenly, Enids name is on the news and she is targeted by prank callers.

Meanwhile, Enid struggles with an even greater darkness. As a child, her sister disappeared following a game in the woods. For decades, she was a missing person, but now Enids parents are prepared to call her deceased. Yet for Enid, the disappearance is full of mystery. Her own memories are spotty, and when she sees a specific reference to the disappearance in a new film, she begins to crumble. How could this filmmaker have known what happened that day? Is the actress in the film actually Enids sister? These questions become Enids obsession, and Censors second half explores her search for answers and descent into well, youll see.

The closer to the truth Enid comes, the looser Censors hold on the narrative becomes. Yet we are drawn to Enids story even as it descends into a predictable denouement. A key reason for this is the performance of star Algar. The Irish actress is utterly mesmerizing onscreen complex, worried, coldly intelligent but also deeply wounded. Its a star-making performance, to be sure. Just as commendable is the direction of Prano Bailey-Bond, who has crafted a horror film that disturbs but is also emotionally engaging. She also crafts the finest smashed-TV-as-metaphor since the opening credits of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Censor is a genuinely impressive debut feature for Bailey-Bond, a horror film with allusions to everything from The Ring to Berberian Sound Studio and Lost Highway. Above all else, though, it has the character of Enid, and the performance of Algar. It works as both a quasi-tribute to the video nasties of the 1980s and a commentary on the foolishness of blaming art for the actions of its admirers. Censor shows that paranoid delusions can target anyoneeven those tasked with being the publics moral barometer. Its a bold point of view, and an exhilarating film.

Censor premiered at Sundance Film Festival.

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Sundance Review: Censor is a Riveting Horror Feature of Paranoid Delusions - The Film Stage