Taglines: You can’t edit reality.
Censor movie storyline. Margaret Thatcher’s England. As an unstoppable wave of hardcore movies that depict butchering, sadism, and murder–the infamous video nasties–invades Britain, mousy Enid, a diligent, scissor-happy film censor working at the British Board of Film Classification, is convinced that she is helping society.
However, when an extreme horror film inspires a family man to slaughter his wife and children, Enid’s repressed childhood trauma emerges from the past, triggering a destructive obsession over her sister Nina’s disappearance. Now, Enid is powerless to resist. But just how far down the rabbit hole is she prepared to go to unearth the truth?
Censor is a 2021 British psychological horror film directed by Prano Bailey-Bond. It was produced from a screenplay by Bailey-Bond and Anthony Fletcher. The film stars Niamh Algar, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller in his final film appearance, and Michael Smiley.
The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 28, 2021 in the Midnight section. On February 23, 2021, Magnolia Pictures acquired the US distribution rights to the film, with plans to release it through its Magnet Releasing banner in theatres in the United States on June 11, 2021.
It was released across the UK and Ireland on August 20, 2021 via Vertigo Releasing. Additionally, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer owns the film’s worldwide home media rights and international television rights, especially on Blu-ray releases in which the 2021 MGM logo is shown at the beginning and end of this film.
About the Story
In 1985, Enid Baines works for the British Board of Film Classification during the height of the Video Nasty controversy. Enid’s co-workers call her “Little Miss Perfect” due to her insistence that violent content be cut or banned. While Enid is having dinner with her parents, they discuss Enid’s sister Nina, who disappeared when the two were little. Enid’s parents have since declared Nina legally dead, but Enid believes she is still alive.
Shortly after a man murders his wife and children, a tabloid newspaper links the killings to a film Enid had rated several months prior, naming her as the censor who approved it. Enid starts receiving threatening and insulting phone calls on a regular basis. One day, Enid is approached by Doug Smart, a film producer who claims veteran horror director Frederick North has personally requested she screen one of his old films, Don’t Go in the Church. While watching, Enid notices that the film depicts events evocative of her memories of Nina’s disappearance.
Investigating North further by acquiring a copy of one of his banned films, Enid notices that the film’s lead, Alice Lee, bears a resemblance to her missing sister. Enid soon becomes obsessed with meeting North, believing that Lee is her missing sister who needs to be saved from the exploitation film industry.
When Enid visits Smart, hoping to learn North’s whereabouts, he tells her that North is making a sequel to Don’t Go in the Church near his home, while having her drink alcohol and getting physically close to her, making Enid uncomfortable. Enid rejects Smart who gets upset and becomes aggressive; Enid pushes him back and he trips and accidentally impales himself brutally on a film award. Smart dies as Enid stares in shock, thanking him for the drink before leaving.
After stealing North’s address from her work, Enid finds the set of North’s latest film, where he and the crew assume her to be an actress. Increasingly confusing fantasy and reality, Enid kills an actor named Charles with an axe, thinking that he was going to hurt her “sister.” She then decapitates North. A terrified Alice denies that she is Enid’s sister and flees from Enid as she begs for Alice to “please be her” before collapsing in the woods. A remote control appears in Enid’s hand, and she presses a button.
Censor (2021)
Directed by: Prano Bailey-Bond
Starring: Niamh Algar, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller, Michael Smiley, Clare Holman, Andrew Havill, Felicity Montagu, Danny Lee Wynter, Clare Perkins
Screenplay by: Prano Bailey-Bond, Anthony Fletcher
Production Design by: Paulina Rzeszowska
Cinematography by: Annika Summerson
Film Editing by: Mark Towns
Costume Design by: Saffron Cullane
Set Decoration by: Bronwyn Franklin
Art Direction by: Philip A. Brown
Music by: Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Vertigo Releasing, Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Release Date: January 28, 2021 (Sundance), August 20, 2021 (United Kingdom)
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