CENSOR

 

“Censor” is an excellent new independent horror film from the UK and is the directorial debut from Prano Bailey-Bond, who judging from the quality of this one film, may turn out to be an exciting new voice in the world of horror. As the title suggests, “Censor” tackles the world of censorship both in regards to art, as well as self-censorship, looking at what the brain does to cope in extraordinary circumstances.

The film takes place in Britain in the early 1980's during the height of the “Video Nasties” era. Our protagonist, Enid, is a censor for the government, whose day consists of watching violent and gory horror films, determining what scenes need to be trimmed or cut for it to see a release, or whether the film is to be banned entirely. She takes her job very seriously, believing that what she is doing is ultimately protecting the public. However her carefully curated world is turned upside down one night during a family dinner with her parents. She is rocked to her core when they explain to Enid that they are issuing a death certificate for her younger sibling, Nina, who disappeared when the two girls where children, and has never been found. When Enid tries to convince them that Nina could still be out there, her parents explain that they need to do this to be able to move on and live their lives again. Enid leaves the dinner distraught, and combined with a recent controversy that has exploded at work, she finds her mind slowly start to break. Harbouring guilt over her sister, due to the fact that they were together on the day she went missing, Enid finds it increasingly hard to cope and focus on her job. However one day when all seems lost, while watching yet another horror film, she notices an actress who is a dead ringer of her sister Nina. Attempting to bring control back to her life once more, Enid goes in search of the actress, but will this bring her the happiness and closure she needs, or will it send her down a rabbit hole of madness and despair?

Leading up to the release of “Censor”, the majority of the press I had seen about it had focused on the “Video Nasty” aspect of the story. This was a time, around the introduction of the VHS, where horror films were being banned in the UK, under the guise of protecting its citizens from the evils within these movies, wherein the truth was that these movies reflected the violence and immorality that existed in real life, particularly in Thatcher's Britain of that time. While “Censor” certainly does look at this era and makes a statement on how ridiculous it was, (with every violent crime being blamed on movies), and how dangerous censorship of art can turn out to be, personally what I think the film is really about is repression. Things we hide from ourselves and bury deep within, (ie. “self-censorship”), so that we can continue to live our lives day by day. However, no matter how deep we bury these things, if we do not deal with them properly, they ultimately end up resurfacing in the future, normally with devastating results, until we then force ourselves to look at what we have been hiding right between the eyes and deal with it front on. I think the key line of dialogue in “Censor” is “you can be surprised what the human brain can edit out when it can't handle the truth” which is spoken by one of Enid's workmates.

One of the things that I love about “Censor” the most is that it is a film that asks questions, but doesn't always give us answers to those questions, particularly in regards to the character of Enid. Enid is someone who takes life and her job, very seriously. Her appearance is very kept and proper, with never a hair out of place. She is very straight laced and appears to have little to no sense of humour. Her entire focus is that she has to get the job right; she needs to protect the public. The entire way that she holds herself gives off the illusion that she is in control. However, the brief glimpses of her home life indicate that she is very lonely and detached from the world. While she and her parents regularly talk, all the conversations are banal in nature. They are filling the space with noise, rather than actually talking and listening to one another, and this is mainly due to Enid and her inability to move on after her sister's disappearance. Tiny cracks start to appear in her illusion of control through her constant tight and aching back, and the way she keeps picking at the skin under the nails of her fingers. It doesn't take much to understand that this is a girl racked with guilt over what happened to her sister and her part in it (if any), all those years ago. However she has repressed the details to the point that she begins to question exactly what happened, how it happened, and even if there is some evil within herself that caused the disappearance. This further gets brought into question when the media dub a recent murder as the work of the “amnesiac killer” due to the fact he cannot remember the crime in question. Enid doesn't understand how someone could forget such an act, but is that because she is worried that she herself may have killed her own sister? This is further hinted at later on, when viewing a “video nasty” that she believes is based on that night in her life and comments “...but that's not how it happened”, which seems to indicate Enid knows exactly what happened, but it is just buried very deep inside her. However, the brilliance of “Censor” is in director Prano Bailey-Bond's decision not to let us in on the truth. We never find out what happened in the past, rather we become a witness to Enid's mental breakdown of the present.

The performance from Niamh Algar as Enid just screams “future star” and you cannot see that not happening if “Censor” gets the exposure it deserves. Algar is just outstanding. From the opening scenes of the quiet, prim and proper Enid, to the totally demented and unhinged quality of her performance at the end of the film, Algar always gives Enid an emotional core that we the audience can hang on to. You can feel this is a very troubled woman, and understand the reasons that may have led to where she is by the finale. I have watched “Censor” twice now, and both times I was devastated by how emotionally painful the ending is and it is all thanks to Algar's removed-from-reality performance and the look of euphoria on her face. It is so damned sad! Whilst there are other characters in the film, Algar's performance is so strong that it feels like a one woman play. She dominates the film. That said, I must give a quick shout out to Michael Smiley who is memorable in a small but pivotal role playing a particularly sleazy B-movie producer.

It is clear early on that “Censor” is director Prano Bailey-Bond's love letter to 80's horror movies. Thankfully, she shot the majority of the film on 35mm, which was the only choice to give it that authentic 80's feel. It feels of the era which is important. While the film's early moments at the censor's office are done in a non-flashy way, filled with a muted colour pallet, when the finale in the woods takes place, “Censor” suddenly expands into an “Evil Dead” aesthetic, and neon colours start to bleed into frame from the sides. And while there isn't a huge amount of blood and gore, no doubt “Friday the 13th” fans will be standing and applauding a late movie decapitation that is a perfect redux of Mrs. Vorhees demise in the original film. I must make mention of the use of video footage too, which I would normally rebel against, but this fits the story here perfectly and the execution of its use is spot on. I absolutely loved the brutal flashes of reality against fantasy at the end, which was achieved via editing through the tracking lines on the picture. It is just brilliant. The other thing I must mention in regards to the visuals, is the change of aspect ratio during Enid's continual descent into madness as she struggles to determine what is real. Beginning in the wide 2:35 aspect ratio, the screen continually shrinks the deeper Enid succumbs to her madness, until it ends up the 4x3 square size that all VHS's used back in that time. Enid no longer can tell if what she is seeing is real life or movie, and Bailey-Bond explains this perfectly via this visual trick.

Overall, I was really looking forward to seeing “Censor” and it thankfully did not disappoint. Many times on this blog, I have admitted my love of movies that explore the mental breakdown of a character and this film now sits favourably with classics of the genre like “Repulsion”. My biggest fear is during this era of COVID-19 that “Censor” will not find the audience it deserves because I think that both its director and star deserve to become huge from this. “Censor” is a wonderfully disturbing film, that doesn't answer all the questions it poses and I love it for that. It also has the most brutal and devastating (from an emotional standpoint) ending imaginable that has destroyed me both times that I have watched the film. I am a huge fan of Prano Bailey-Bond's “Censor” and recommend it wholeheartedly to horror fans everywhere.

4 Stars.