Film Starring Gang-Rapist-Slaying Hero So Controversial Germany Effectively Bans It

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 16: Armie Hammer and Elizabeth Chambers attend the Go Campaign's 13th Annual Go Gala at NeueHouse Hollywood on November 16, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

“Citizen Vigilante,” a 2026 action thriller written and directed by Uwe Boll, is a “Law and Order” episode from another universe. 

The film, released Friday, follows an American vigilante (played by Armie Hammer) living in Europe who ruthlessly dispatches thugs, migrant gang rapists, corrupt statesmen, and any law enforcement officers standing between him and his goals. 

The film is openly didactic. The Vigilante does what the state and European citizens refuse to do: Punish the guilty. Boll, who is German, chose an American for his protagonist. The thriller ends with the Vigilante telling Europeans that he will continue his crusade, saying, “Remember: I do this for you, until you learn to do it for yourself.” (RELATED: ‘The State Enabled Them’: British MP Rupert Lowe Releases Horrifying Report On Migrant Rape Gangs) 

One reviewer, Mystery Grove, suggested in an X post that the film is a “troll of the rightwing audience it’s obviously pandering to but simultaneously works as a normal exploitation/message film because the people who might object genuinely have no answer to the issues it’s raising[.]”

Boll replied to the post: “Not trolling[.]”

The film ends with a dedication to the “thousands of rape and murder victims in Europe who were betrayed by our legal system.”

Boll told The Telegraph that “Citizen Vigilante” has been effectively banned in Germany.

“The rating system refused to give us a rating, so now you can only watch it if you bring in a Blu-ray from Austria or Switzerland. And I think they did that on purpose. It was a deliberate censorship decision. I hired a lawyer to complain about it, but we lost in a six-two vote, as I was told that the film was inciting violence against migrants,” Boll explained.

Watching now pic.twitter.com/kvuXG2zYXL

— Mystery Grove Movie List Co. (@MysteryGrove) June 21, 2026

“Citizen Vigilante” features some highly compelling scenes, mostly propelled by the force of Hammer’s acting ability. 

In one scene, the Vigilante confronts a trio of youths who have declined to pay their bus fares. He tells them, “Who we are and what we do have ramifications in our lives and in the lives of everyone around us … If you get onto a bus and you don’t pay your ticket, if you go to the movie theater, if you grab a banana at a grocery store and you don’t pay, eventually the cost of everything will go up.” The group disregards the Vigilante’s speech, and continues on their wayward path, to their eventual demise.

Another scene, currently making the rounds on X, sees the Vigilante taking a gang rapist and his family hostage. The Vigilante interrogates them, finds them to be remorseless, and eventually slaughters them all. (RELATED: Finnish Court Reportedly Orders Woman To Pay Legal Fees For Foreign Men She Says Raped Her) 

I also liked a scene in which the Vigilante, while having sex with a prostitute, notices a spot of mold on her wall and interrupts their coitus to tell her to get it fixed.

Reviewers bemoaning the violence featured in “Citizen Vigilante” take up a position which is difficult to defend. Would they condemn “American History X,” or any of Quentin Tarantino’s films, or “The Boys,” or any one of countless films and television series which indulge in unapologetic violence? 

“Citizen Vigilante” has two critics reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, both of which pan the film. The film has over 100 audience ratings, scoring 92% on Rotten Tomatoes’ popcornmeter. 

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 14: Armie Hammer attends the premiere of Columbia Pictures’ “Bad Boys For Life” at TCL Chinese Theatre on January 14, 2020 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images,)

“Citizen Vigilante” is far from a perfect movie. One might take issue with the production, the pacing, the heavyhanded stings and score choices. But it’s not as though Hollywood is regularly producing decent film or television at this point. Boll’s movie is no worse than the police and legal procedurals being beamed into millions of households every day, in which each episode contains a timely lesson, such as, “white frat boys are dangerous rapists,” or, “police officers are racists who regularly frame black teenagers for crimes they did not commit.”

“Citizen Vigilante” is not a masterpiece, but then again, most art is not. It’s obvious and fun and would not be getting nearly so much attention if not for the rarity of films with overtly right-wing messaging.