Gory vigilante thriller has dangerous anti-immigrant agenda.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
Any Positive Content?
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Citizen Vigilante is a low-budget thriller starring Armie Hammer as Sanders, a violent vigilante who targets immigrant criminals and corrupt officials in an unnamed European city. Rape and murder are depicted in graphic detail. Sanders kills many people—including innocent victims, police officers, and the families of criminals—in acts framed as justified. He and the story's news channel spread fearmongering messages about Black and Muslim immigrants committing brutal crimes while a weak justice system allows them to escape punishment. Sanders' crusade leads to his being celebrated worldwide as a hero despite his violent actions. White characters are generally portrayed as victims of crime or as too weak to resist it, while Black, Middle Eastern, and Muslim characters are largely depicted as criminals. Nudity and sex feature prominently, including a scene in which Sanders selects a sex worker from a corridor of women while the camera focuses on their breasts, legs, and crotches. Strong language includes "motherf----r" and "f---ing." The film has no positive messages or role models.
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Violence & Scariness
a lot
Black and Middle Eastern immigrants commit violence against White women, murdering and raping European characters. A White noncitizen hero murders people in acts framed as delivering justice against Muslim immigrants and liberal judges. A woman's throat is cut in broad daylight while she's out walking with her son, and she dies in a pool of blood as he watches. People are shot with machine guns, resulting in bloody wounds. Armed police storm an apartment, and several officers are killed by machine gun fire as blood and bullets fly. Gory injuries include a jaw being shot off and a face exploding. A character attacks two kids with a stun gun, then stomps on their wrists, breaking them. A judge is injected in the neck with heroin and kidnapped. An explosion kills police officers and sets them on fire, with burning bodies shown. A character runs a car off the road, killing the driver and passengers to make a point. A murder staged as a suicide includes a close-up of wrists being slit with a knife. A family is held at gunpoint, and a teen is shot in the leg before the entire family—and the teen's friends—are shot dead. A flashback graphically depicts the gang rape of a 14-year-old. Teens bully and beat up a boy in a park. Characters talk about the threat of rape and sexual assault, and some victims are offered the chance to have their attackers killed. Two characters plan to drug and rape someone at a club.
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The main character has sex with a sex worker in a scene that shows bare breasts. He pushes her head down to receive oral sex, and they have sex while she holds his throat on top of him. After a break to discuss mold in the building, they have sex again in multiple positions. Sex workers wear lingerie in a brothel as the camera lingers in close-up on their crotches, breasts, legs, and butts and scans their bodies, often without showing their faces.
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Two people feel unwell after accidentally taking the date-rape drug they planned to use on someone. A judge is injected in the neck with heroin and kidnapped.
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Positive Messages
none
An anti-immigrant message runs throughout, delivered through in-movie broadcasts in which the main character's speeches to camera incite viewers to violence with a relentless message of fear. He goads viewers into action, berating them as weak sheep who need to violently stand up against what he calls the threat of "Islamist extremists" and "the woke left." The message offers no nuance or balance—it plays as a fantasy for people with extreme right-wing views cultivated by online fear.
Positive Role Models
none
Sanders is a U.S. veteran turned landlord in an unnamed European city. He believes the legal system is too soft on immigrants who commit crimes, so he carries out vigilante killings. This earns him superhero status online and among the town's citizens. He kills convicted criminals and innocent people alike, including the entire family of a Muslim teen charged with rape. Sanders has a huge ego and broadcasts his racist philosophy online, celebrated by a news channel within the film. Police chief Henry seems to admire the vigilante killer but says he wants to catch him to uphold the law.
Diverse Representations
Flagged for concern
Noncitizens are constantly referred to as "migrants," and the portrayal is openly anti-immigrant: People from Africa, Muslims, and other immigrants are shown as violent criminals, while White residents are depicted as victims who cannot safely go out after dark. Fake TV news reports repeatedly focus on crimes committed by "undocumented migrants," using inflammatory language and scenarios designed to incite fear and justify violence. Every character in the city speaks English except for a Muslim immigrant family. A Muslim teenage girl claims that the way European girls dress invites rape. In a scene in which the main character chooses a sex worker, the camera objectifies a corridor of women, focusing primarily on their bodies. Women are overwhelmingly portrayed as sex workers or as victims of sexual abuse and violent crime, while men of Middle Eastern descent and other immigrants are largely depicted as criminals or as accomplices to crime. The "hero" is also a noncitizen, but he is White and is never condemned for his murders.
In CITIZEN VIGILANTE, American landlord Sanders (Armie Hammer) becomes a vigilante in the European city he lives in, targeting immigrant criminals and corrupt officials he believes the justice system has let off too easily.
Without the backing of a powerful and controversial media owner, this anti-migrant, pro-violence vigilante film would probably have disappeared without a trace. Unfortunately, Citizen Vigilante has attracted more attention than most low-budget exploitation movies could dream of, and far more people are tuning in than should be to writer-director Uwe Boll's inept call to fear and violence. Any benefit of the doubt that it might be a misguided satire or self-aware of its many contradictions and hysterical claims is removed by its closing dedication: "This film is dedicated to the thousands of rape and murder victims in Europe who were betrayed by our legal system." Like AI-generated Facebook pages designed to terrify people, Citizen Vigilante is a bad movie with a bad message, delivered badly.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what message Citizen Vigilante is trying to tell. Did you find it problematic? Why, or why not?
Discuss the strong language used in the movie. What did it contribute? Is a certain kind of language expected in a film like this?
How are sex and nudity handled in the film? Is it sensitive? Gratuitous? What's the difference? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values regarding sex and relationships.
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Tom Cassidy
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based on child development research. How do we rate?
