Far-right organizers and white supremacist influencers are using Uwe Boll’s new film Citizen Vigilante as something closer to movement content than movie chatter, according to WIRED. For migrant and Muslim communities, the relevant part is not the Rotten Tomatoes-grade discourse. It is the online audience treating fictional murders as instruction.
The film stars Armie Hammer as Sanders, a former US soldier who inherits his father’s real estate holdings in an unnamed European country. In the plot, Sanders becomes convinced that Muslims have taken over Europe and begins killing migrants, young people, and judges he views as responsible. WIRED reported that the film leans on the baseless “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which claims immigrants are replacing white Europeans.
Critics savaged the movie after its June release. Variety called it “astonishingly bad,” while In Review Online described it as “racist, xenophobic, ethnocentrist, alt-right agitprop.” The release also landed shortly after anti-immigrant riots in the UK and Northern Ireland.
Boll, a German director known for poorly reviewed video game adaptations including Alone in the Dark and BloodRayne, told Piers Morgan he was not anti-Muslim. In separate comments to Hollywood Elsewhere, he said Muslims would “take over” in roughly 30 years and kill non-converts. Boll later told WIRED he meant “radical Islamistic muslims,” adding that such people support “stone-age, hateful, anti-democratic, and violent rules.”
Germany effectively blocked the film over concerns that it incited violence against immigrants, The Guardian reported. The movie then received a much louder distribution boost from Elon Musk, who shared the full film on X for 48 hours. WIRED reported that it received millions of views there. Musk also promoted a post that framed a scene in which Hammer’s character kills a Syrian refugee family as “the moderate response.”
The film was also available through major on-demand services and, at one point, appeared in the top 10 trending lists on Apple and Amazon, according to WIRED. Because it had not yet received theatrical release in some countries, some far-right groups organized online watch parties.
Wendy Via, cofounder and president of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told WIRED that the film’s distribution showed how far anti-migrant hostility had been normalized. She said influencers such as Musk, who have large audiences and spread bigotry and conspiracy theories, help make that normalization possible.
WIRED reported that US far-right figures including Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik, activist Jack Posobiec, and white nationalist Nick Fuentes praised the film. In response to Posobiec asking Telegram followers about the movie’s message, users described vigilantism and war against Muslims as takeaways. Boll also appeared in interviews with Jared Taylor, a US white supremacist, and Mark Collett, a British far-right extremist, according to WIRED.
The film also moved through networks tied to Robert Rundo, founder of the Active Club network. Will2Rise, a hate group founded by Rundo, published a review praising the movie’s violence and calling it validating for extremists, WIRED reported. Gym XIV, a Swedish far-right group aligned with Active Club, called the film useful in a “culture war” and said it could help radicalize sympathizers.
Asked by WIRED whether he feared the film could inspire anti-Muslim violence, Boll said he did not want street violence against migrants. He said he did want European governments to remove “violent, crazy, and Islamistic” radicals, and accused governments of criminalizing people who make that demand.
Hammer has reportedly tried to distance himself from the film. Puck reported that he privately called it “disgusting” and “hateful.” Boll disputed that account, saying Hammer had promoted the movie in interviews and appeared at a question-and-answer event. WIRED said Hammer could not be reached for comment.
This story draws on original reporting from WIRED.
