Armie Hammer's return to the big screen has not been as expected. After his leading role in Call Me By Your Name, which propelled him as one of the most promising actors internationally, his consolidation as one of Hollywood's big stars was anticipated. However, allegations of sexual assault by several women against the actor (including controversial accusations of cannibalism) brought his career to a halt.
Now he returns with Citizen Vigilante, directed by the controversial Uwe Boll, a filmmaker known for his poor film adaptations of video games. Despite this, the spotlight has not been on the actor's comeback, but on the film itself due to its clearly xenophobic and anti-immigrant content, including a scene where he kills an entire Syrian immigrant family.
The film's premise is simple: "A man takes justice into his own hands. His crusade turns him into a social media star but pits him against the local police chief," as the official synopsis reads. Although not the first time the audience has seen a thriller about revenge and social media, various aspects of the plot make its message ethically questionable. The vigilante Sanders, of American origin, lives in a European city where he dedicates himself to murdering criminals (all of them immigrants) and corrupt officials.
Its director, Uwe Boll, admitted in an interview on Real America's Voice that he dedicated the film "to all the women in Europe who were left unprotected by the law", focusing on alleged cases of rape and violence stemming from what he calls "mass migration".
Following these statements, controversy erupted definitively, and the filmmaker has been labeled far-right. As a result, the film has been rated 'RR' in Germany, implying a total ban on its distribution and exhibition throughout German territory.
The owner of X, Elon Musk, has decided to intervene directly after the censorship in Europe and its positive reception by the audience in the United States (though not by professional critics). The tycoon has released the film for free on his social network for anyone to watch, although the link lasted only 48 hours. Additionally, he actively campaigned by sharing several clips and praising its reception on Prime Video: "This is what people really want to see", he stated on X.
The controversy reached its peak following a user's post denouncing the death of a two-year-old girl at the hands of an "African migrant." The tycoon reacted to this incident by reposting an image of the vigilante Sanders shooting, accompanied by an incendiary phrase: "This is the moderate response". An interaction that has once again put Musk in the spotlight for allegedly justifying extreme violence. A sequel is now eagerly awaited.