View source for Censor (2021 film)


{{Use British English|date=November 2021}}

{{Infobox film
| name           = Censor
| image          = Censor 2021 poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Prano Bailey-Bond]]
| producer       = Helen Jones
| writer         = {{plainlist|
* Prano Bailey-Bond
* Anthony Fletcher
}}
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Niamh Algar]]
* [[Nicholas Burns (actor)|Nicholas Burns]]
* [[Vincent Franklin]]
* [[Sophia La Porta]]
* [[Adrian Schiller]]
* [[Michael Smiley]]
}}
| music          = [[Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch]]
| cinematography = Annika Summerson
| editing        = Mark Towns
| production_companies  = {{Plainlist|
* Silver Salt Films
* [[British Film Institute|BFI]]
* [[Film4 Productions|Film4]]
* Ffilm Cymru Wales
}}
| distributor    = [[Vertigo Films|Vertigo Releasing]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Censor (2021)|website=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|access-date=9 August 2021|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/censor-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc01mza4mdm}}</ref>
| released       = {{Film date|df=yes|2021|1|28|[[2021 Sundance Film Festival|Sundance]]|ref1=<ref name=Sundance>{{cite web |url= https://fpg.festival.sundance.org/film-info/5fd0a8774ec3e8d9be5ded64 |title= Sundance - FPG |website= Sundance |access-date= 4 January 2021 |language= en |archive-date= 7 March 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210307112641/https://fpg.festival.sundance.org/film-info/5fd0a8774ec3e8d9be5ded64 |url-status= dead }}</ref>|2021|8|20|United Kingdom}}
| runtime        = 84 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = $361,699<ref name="BOM">{{cite Box Office Mojo |id=360678145/weekend/ |title=Censor |access-date=16 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="NUM">{{cite the numbers |id=Censor-(2021-United-Kingdom) |title=Censor |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref>
}}

'''''Censor''''' is a 2021 British [[psychological horror]] film directed by [[Prano Bailey-Bond]], who co-wrote the screenplay with Anthony Fletcher. It stars [[Niamh Algar]], [[Nicholas Burns (actor)|Nicholas Burns]], [[Vincent Franklin]], [[Sophia La Porta]], [[Adrian Schiller]] (in his final film appearance), and [[Michael Smiley]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Grater|first=Tom|date=16 December 2020|title=First Look At Niamh Algar In Sundance Midnight Selection 'Censor'|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|url=https://deadline.com/2020/12/first-look-niamh-algar-sundance-midnight-censor-1234657373/|url-status=live|access-date=3 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104155349/https://deadline.com/2020/12/first-look-niamh-algar-sundance-midnight-censor-1234657373/|archive-date=4 January 2021}}</ref>

''Censor'' had its world premiere at the [[2021 Sundance Film Festival]] on 28 January 2021.<ref name=Sundance/> It received the [[Méliès d'Or]] for Best European Fantastic Film.<ref>{{cite web |first=Andrew |last= Mack Correia |title=Sitges 2021 Méliès d'Or Awards: Prano Bailey-Bond's Censor Wins Best Film |url=https://screenanarchy.com/2021/10/sitges-2021-melies-dor-awards-prano-bailey-bonds-censor-wins-best-european-film.html |website=Screen Anarchy |access-date=23 October 2021 |date=17 October 2021}}</ref>

==Plot==
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 format)|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.

Enid is awoken by a seemingly happy vision of her sister, thanking Enid for finding her. Nina and Enid leave the woods and drive to their parents' home. During the drive, the car radio announces that all violent films have been banned, crime has been eradicated, and [[unemployment]] no longer exists. Enid's fantasy is sporadically interrupted, revealing that she has kidnapped Alice, who is begging Enid's parents for help as Enid smiles. The camera then pans out of a TV screen, and a VHS tape with the title Censor comes out of a VCR.

==Cast==
* [[Niamh Algar]] as Enid Baines
* [[Nicholas Burns (actor)|Nicholas Burns]] as Sanderson
* [[Vincent Franklin]] as Fraser
* [[Sophia La Porta]] as Alice Lee / "Nina Baines"
* [[Adrian Schiller]] as Frederick North
* [[Michael Smiley]] as Doug Smart
* [[Clare Holman]] as June
* [[Andrew Havill]] as George
* [[Felicity Montagu]] as Valerie
* [[Danny Lee Wynter]] as Perkins
* [[Clare Perkins]] as Anne
* Guillaume Delaunay as Beastman / Charles
* Richard Glover as Gerald
* Erin Shanagher as Debbie 
* Matthew Earley as Gordon
* Richard Renton as Frank
* [[Beau Gadsdon]] as Young Enid
* [[Amelie Child-Villiers]] as Young Nina

== Production ==
Filming mostly took place in [[Bradford]] and [[Leeds]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Censor|url=https://www.screenyorkshire.co.uk/funding/productions/censor/|url-status=live|access-date=24 August 2021|website=Screen Yorkshire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824213435/https://www.screenyorkshire.co.uk/funding/productions/censor/ |archive-date=24 August 2021 }}</ref> The set of Gerald's Videos was created in [[Pudsey]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Macnamara|first=Felicity|date=19 October 2019|title=Film crews in Pudsey as work starts on new horror film Censor|work=[[Telegraph & Argus]]|url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/17980205.film-crews-pudsey-work-starts-new-horror-film-censor/|url-status=live|access-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021010425/https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/17980205.film-crews-pudsey-work-starts-new-horror-film-censor/|archive-date=21 October 2019}}</ref> The film was primarily shot on [[35 mm format|35 mm film]], with some [[Super 8 film|Super 8]] and [[VHS]] footage.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jones|first=Emma|date=19 August 2021|title=Censor: Video nasty film explores the power of horror|work=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58246426|url-status=live|access-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823044218/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58246426|archive-date=23 August 2021}}</ref>

==Release==
The film had its world premiere at the [[2021 Sundance Film Festival]] on 28 January 2021 in the ''Midnight'' section. On 23 February 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 11 June 2021.<ref>{{cite news|last=Debruge|first=Peter|date=15 December 2020|title=Sundance Film Festival Lineup Features 38 First-Time Directors, Including Rebecca Hall and Robin Wright|language=en|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|url=https://variety.com/2020/film/news/sundance-film-festival-announces-2021-lineup-1234854059/|url-status=live|access-date=4 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701194411/https://variety.com/2020/film/news/sundance-film-festival-announces-2021-lineup-1234854059/|archive-date=1 July 2021}}</ref> It was released across the UK and Ireland on 20 August 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.

== Critical reception ==
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 89% based on reviews from 149 critics, with an average rating of 7.30/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Occasionally uneven but bold and viscerally effective, ''Censor'' marks a bloody good step forward for British horror."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/censor_2021|title=Censor Reviews|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date= 27 August 2021}}</ref> {{Metacritic film prose|<!--score-->69|<!--number of reviews-->26|ref=y|access-date=May 25, 2022}} Writing for [[RogerEbert.com]], Simon Abrams concluded that "''Censor'' is, in [a] sense, a success, if only because it winds you up, and leaves you wanting a lot more where it came from."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/censor-movie-review-2021 |title=Censor |first=Simon |last=Abrams |website=[[RogerEbert.com]] |date=11 June 2021 |access-date=22 August 2021}}</ref> [[Mark Kermode]] of ''[[The Observer]]'' rated the film five out of five [[Star (classification)|stars]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kermode|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Kermode|date=22 August 2021|title=Censor review – a brilliantly adventurous horror debut|work=[[The Observer]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/aug/22/censor-review-prano-bailey-bond-niamh-algar-video-nasties|url-status=live|access-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824034907/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/aug/22/censor-review-prano-bailey-bond-niamh-algar-video-nasties|archive-date=24 August 2021|issn=1756-3224}}</ref> [[Peter Bradshaw]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' described the film as a "very elegant and disquieting debut" and rated the film four out of five stars.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Bradshaw|date=29 January 2021|title=Censor review – disturbing descent into video nastiness|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/29/censor-review-horror-films-drama|url-status=live|access-date=24 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824035228/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/29/censor-review-horror-films-drama|archive-date=24 August 2021|issn=1756-3224}}</ref> [[Kevin Maher (writer)|Kevin Maher]] of ''[[The Times]]'' called the film a "half-baked horror" that is "all context and no content" and rated the film two out of five stars.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Maher|first=Kevin|author-link=Kevin Maher (writer)|date=20 August 2021|title=Censor review — horror about scary movies falls flat|work=[[The Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/censor-review-horror-about-scary-movies-falls-flat-td208ppp6|url-access=subscription|access-date=24 August 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.censormovie.com/}}
* {{IMDb title|10329614}}
* {{Rottentomatoes|censor_2021}}
* {{Metacritic film}}

{{Méliès d'Or}}

[[Category:2021 films]]
[[Category:2021 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:2021 horror films]]
[[Category:2021 independent films]]
[[Category:2020s psychological horror films]]
[[Category:British psychological horror films]]
[[Category:British independent films]]
[[Category:Films about censorship]]
[[Category:Films about film directors and producers]]
[[Category:Films about films]]
[[Category:Films about missing people]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1980s]]
[[Category:Films set in 1985]]
[[Category:2021 English-language films]]
[[Category:2021 British films]]
[[Category:British Film Institute films]]
[[Category:Film4 Productions films]]
[[Category:English-language horror films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]
[[Category:Films by Welsh women directors]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=Censor (2021 film)|access_date=2026-02-28}}