The premise of Prano Bailey-Bond’s Sundance Midnight selection opener is so strong that it’s little wonder the film can’t quite live up — or perhaps down — to it: In a Thatcher’s Britain riven by tabloid-fueled “video nasty” hysteria, a young woman working for the national censorship board is assessing a horror flick, when it triggers sudden flashbacks to a traumatic, amnesiac episode in her own life. Given the ongoing debates around censorship — and its trendier 2020s companion, “cancellation” — and the relationship between screen violence and its real-life counterpart, not to mention the grungy exploitation aesthetic of the no-budget films it references, “Censor” dangles the prospect of topical, ticklish provocation that will prove offensive to some sensibilities. And offense, in a time of pandemic numbness, is tantalizing in itself: at least you’re feeling something.
Initially, at least, “Censor” teases in that direction. The witty opening segues from snowy,...
Initially, at least, “Censor” teases in that direction. The witty opening segues from snowy,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
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