Uwe Boll censored in Germany: his vigilante film about migrants

'Citizen Vigilante': Uwe Boll's latest provocation that Germany won't let audiences see

Armie Hammer pulls out a gun and takes the law into his own hands against a gang of rapists. But these are no abstract villains: director Uwe Boll has portrayed them as young migrants, citing crime statistics that — he claims — show they are overrepresented. The result: 'Citizen Vigilante' has been refused a rating in Germany, which amounts to a ban on theatrical release.

The decision by Germany's rating authority (FSK) comes as no surprise to anyone who has trinc Boll's career. The filmmaker, famous for flops like 'Alone in the Dark' and the 'Rampage' series, built his career exploiting tax loopholes. In the mid-2000s, German investors could deduct 100% of their investment in film productions as a tax loss. Boll combined those write-offs with cheap shoots in Eastern Europe and low-cost video game licenses. The result: even when the films were artistic disasters, the business was profitable.

Now, with 'Citizen Vigilante', Boll is back in the spotlight. The project began in January 2025 under the title 'The Dark Knight', but Warner Bros. sent him a cease-and-desist letter, forcing him to rename it 'Citizen Vigilante'. Shot in Croatia between January and April 2025, the film tells the story of a vigilante who hunts down packs of rapists. The German authorities' discomfort comes just as the debate over migration and security is more heated than ever.

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Some see the censorship as an act of consistency: Boll's premise — that the rapists in the film are migrants — is a generalization that can fuel prejudice. Others, however, believe the FSK has acted as the censoring arm of an official narrative that tolerates no dissent. What is certain is that the film already has its audience: Boll's trinc, who see him as a necessary provocateur. The director, meanwhile, is rubbing his hands with glee: the ban guarantees him publicity that no money could buy.