Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: CENSOR [Sundance Film Festival 2021 - Virtual]
The benevolence of consequence can be seen almost as a truism in "Censor" [Midnight], one of the first times ever on opening night a Midnight Section title has played at the Sundance Film Festival. But these are different times. "Censor" watches its protagonist from inside the lines using an 80s setting as a paradigm for a journey of self repression and paranoia. Niamh Algar, who was last seen in the first season of "Raised By Wolves", creates a slow burn of a woman with her job at a censor again the "video nastys" which was the splatter genre of sorts in the UK. Her character continually says she "wants to do the job right" which could be a misnomer but she is haunted by the loss of a sister but she can't quite remember or understand what happened. This sleek darkness starts off slow with a claustrophobic sense inside the hallways of her offices. Prano Bailey-Bond uses different mediums to highlight the breaks with reality but the frenetic energy never quite hits fever pitch. It is only in the ending moments that it truly finds its footing. The last scene without giving anything away reflects that hope and hopelessness that has been ratcheting in the character. For much of the movie it seems misdirected or at times misrepresented while being released in spurts. One coping mechanism speaks well to how psychologically the character could manifest certain defenses. This could be the subjugation the character feels or that she just needs to be let loose when finally confronted what could be seen as her "horror". B-
By Tim Wassberg
