Review: Young Ticket Tombola winners watch Censor
This summer, we launched our BFI Film Academy Ticket Tombola - each month, we randomly select ten young people aged 16-25 from our draw to receive a free cinema ticket to a specially selected film screening with a Q&A or introduction, and invite them to tell us what they thought of the film.
August's film was Prano Bailey-Bond's Censor, with a post-screening Q&A with the director on Thursday 26 August.
Here's what our young reviewers had to say about Censor:
Nat Murtagh
Director Prano Bailey-Bond’s debut feature film Censor explores themes of trauma and grief in the context of a film censor during the infamous video nasties era of the 1980’s. Censor is a beautifully grotesque feature with trippy visuals and a droning score. Not to mention the absolutely gorgeous colour palette seemingly reminiscent to Dario Argento’s Suspiria.
Protagonist Enid’s journey down a spiral of delusion was fascinating. The film explores how video nasties consumed Enid - showing her being thrown into an altered reality with mind-bending visuals, packed full of horrific practical FX - which leaves Enid and the audience alike questioning the very essence of reality. Censor grabbed my attention from the start - it’s atmospheric, gory, and a little bit camp with the vibrant blood effects.
The acting is astounding - especially from the lead, Niamh Algar, who really drew me in with her subtle signs of discomfort during the film like her constantly cracking her back and picking at her skin. It really made me as a viewer feel her anxiety with her as the story unravels into a hypnotic whirlwind of nightmares.
Despite all the references to other horror films, Censor is truly a one of a kind viewing experience. It really acts as a form of escapism for the viewer, as the audience takes a trip alongside Enid to help her gain some sort of closure and peace after past trauma. I honestly believe Censor could be the best horror of 2021 and I am really excited to see what Prano Bailey-Bond pulls out of the bag next.
Jake Street
The question and answer session of this film added a whole new dynamic which really helped understand the filmmaking process, as well as the director's ambitions and considerations when making the film. It was interesting to also briefly hear about the finances involved in making a film and the funding organisations that were involved.
I was personally very interested in the premise of the film, as film classification/age ratings have always interested me. The highlight of the film for me has to be the final scene which felt very surreal and did a great job of causing this uneasy feeling to the audience.
I very much enjoyed the experience of hearing from the director, and I am looking forward to taking advantage of any opportunity to hear from members of a production in the future.
