Censor [2021]
“I don't want to grow old wishing for a happy ending that we all know might never come..."
Writer/director Prano Bailey-Bond's film debut Censor is the strange, clever, and unsettling thriller we've been waiting for since Black Swan. Intelligent, subversive, and shocking; you will not be wanting by the end of this one.
Censor tells the tale of a British film censor who picks up the trail of her missing sister after seeing something frighteningly familiar during one of her sessions...
One of the things I talk about a lot when reviewing films is "trusting the audience". Watch this movie and you will see exactly what I mean. Censor never stops moving and never stops to explain anything to you, everyone just exists in the world and carries on with their lives whether you're caught up or not.
Beautifully simple cinematography is coupled with some daring and unsettling editing to generate a story that is strange and upsetting the first time through, and fun and exciting the second. Censor will first have you on the edge of your seat biting your fingernails, then screaming "Oh no!" once you're in on the plot. It's a very wonderful (horrible) ride.
Censor won't be for everyone, as perhaps realized by the polarizing ratings it gets. However, if you like "film" and you don't want something you can just consume and walk away from, Censor will absolutely be for you.
Prano Bailey-Bond is someone that will remain on my watchlist after this one, and she should stay in your scopes as well. If Censor is her launch pad, the future of horror may have just been elevated to new and terrifying heights.
"You'd be surprised what the human brain can edit out when it can't handle the truth."
