“Censor”

8.7

“Horror is already out there, in all of us.”

File this one alongside “Midsommar,” “It Follows,” and “Hereditary.” The originality and intelligence on display here are off the charts!

From the score to the cinematography, everything is as razor-sharp and as detail-oriented as Enid’s discretion as a member of the British Film Ratings Board. There are so many clues in the dialogue and scenes that this shouldn’t have caught me by surprise as strongly as it did, but nonetheless, I was left in a daze by the finale. This is not your traditional slasher-thriller, though it might play off of many of the same tropes and allegories.

This film perfectly encapsulates what I love most about the genre. Great films help us contextualize and process things in our world that we may have difficulty approaching traditionally. The irony in Enid being a film rating specialist who becomes numb to the violence she witnesses and suppresses, similar to the trauma in her real-life being her downfall, was superb. The very thing she is trying to save others from becomes the thing she can’t keep herself from. As I said earlier, there are many verbal and visual clues along the way in this film that come full circle. Some even in the trailer. My jaw still dropped multiple times.

Processing of disbelief aside, I highly recommend this one for anyone looking for something out of the ordinary and thought provoking. It’s not the scariest, it’s not the bloodiest, but it is so perfectly crafted that you can’t help but appreciate the art at its highest form on the silver screen.