Censor (2021)
Directed & Co-written by Prano Bailey-Bond

In the early 1980s British society collectively clutched their pearls at a wave of releases of violent and graphic films that they dubbed ‘Video Nasties’. These films were blamed for all manner of social problems by just about everyone, which was certainly a lot easier than trying to solve any of those problems, and by the mid-80s, a newly empowered Film Classifications Board stepped in to protect the British Isles from the terrible siege of movies they deemed harmful through the magical power of censorship. My thoughts about censorship are probably easy to guess – like a lot of horror fans, it rubs me the wrong way. But there is at least one good thing to come out of this era, the British horror film Censor.

Video Nasties. Censorship. Murder. Good Start For A Movie!

Set during the height of the Video Nasty era, this film follows Enid, a straight-laced British film censor dedicated to her job of viewing these movies and submitting lists of changes that must be made to them before they can be granted release in Britain. During a viewing of a new film from an eccentric and mysterious director, the normally steel-nerved Enid is thrown completely off-kilter. Reminding her of a traumatic event from her childhood, Enid becomes obsessed with this movie, believing that its director may have answers that she’s looking for. Everything gets even more complicated when Enid becomes involved in a bizarre and sensationalized murder case that may be related to a film she approved.

Shockingly Good Cast That Keeps Everything Real And Grounded.

In addition to Enid, who ends up being a far more sympathetic character than I originally suspected given that she is paid to chop up movies that I would most certainly enjoy, there’s a strong supporting cast who, without much spotlight, manage to endear themselves as fully realized people. It’s a small thing, but a real triumph of the writing and acting of these characters that I’m able to remember all her coworkers, her parents, and a few others, and I recall exactly who they were, what they were about, and what their emotional involvement in this story is. These feel like real people, which goes a long way to making this world feel real. Obviously, though, the glue that holds this cast together is Enid, played by Irish actress Niamh Algar, who glides effortlessly between the big emotions she’s dealing with while maintaining a grounding to everything she portrays. There’s a lot of change in her performance as the film goes on, which I won’t get into because of spoilers, but I was super into it.

Atmosphere. Style. The Color Red. I’m Sold Already.

Along with the performances, Censor has a great sense of style. Its use of color is something I’m a big fan of, and that goes a long way when it comes to livening up the grim grittiness of 1980s Britain that Censor revels in. The deliberate pacing and generally quiet nature of the narrative, there isn’t nearly as much explicit gore as I was expecting, push the atmosphere in the exact right direction, leaving the audience with a moody and oppressive atmosphere that brings you into Enid’s mindset and emotional state without the need of endlessly expositing at you. And even though there isn’t as much explicit violence and gore as I was expecting, there’s an amazing sound design where just hearing the effects of violence hits you harder than seeing it, so hats off to whoever was in charge of that. Prano Bailey-Bond understands the language of cinema, which is really impressive for this being her feature film debut, and I am absolutely keeping her on my list of new directors to watch.

Sure, It’s Not Perfect And Isn’t Wholly Original, But What Is?

There’re a few issues that come through in Censor, but never break the movie for me. As far as pacing, the 80-minute film chugs along nicely for the most part but does flounder a little bit right at the middle of the movie. Atmosphere and performances both kept things from getting stale for me, but the story visibly faltered, spinning its wheels while the audience was waiting for the next act to begin. Again, not terrible, just a weird sequence that could have been better. Also, a quite recent British horror movie is similar to Censor, not exactly in concept but in the style and narrative, and yes, I am being vague again so as to avoid spoilers, but it stuck in my head a little bit how similar this was to a movie that recently came out and was significantly better. Not, oh that movie was better so don’t watch this one, just a thought that did come up after seeing Censor.

The Best Theater Experience I’ve Had Since The Theaters Reopened.

Censor isn’t a perfect movie but I had a great time with it. The performances were spot on, the visuals and sound design lifted a narrative that occasionally lost its way, and the ending was damn near perfect. At the end of the day, Censor is a quality movie made by people who love and want to celebrate horror and its unique history in Britain, and that shines through and adds a lot of charm, along with some neat little social commentary here and there. Anyone could watch Censor and realize it’s a good movie, but horror fans will get a bit more out of this, especially if they’re into exploitation films and that whole Video Nasty era. Give Censor a watch, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.