Censor. 2021. Great Britain. Directed by Prano Bailey-Bond. Screenplay by Bailey-Bond, Anthony Fletcher. With Niamh Algar, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller, Michael Smiley. 84 min.
Inspired by the Video Nasties era in 1980s Britain, Prano Bailey Bond’s stunning debut feature centers itself on trauma, grief, and the violence from which they can flow. Enid, a strict and lonely British board censor, is traumatized by the disappearance of her sister in the woods when they were kids. This unresolved issue permeates all aspects of her life and, even as her parents are set to move on, she still holds out hope. While reviewing a particularly gruesome horror movie at work, she comes to believe that one of the featured cast is her missing sister and sets out to “save” her. Censor straddles the blurred line between fact and fiction that can accompany PTSD: Is what Enid believes true, or is her bloody resolve delusional?