Is this a new era of conservative filmmaking?



I was recently treated to a free screening of a new documentary called "Thank You for Sharing" (2026). This funny and engaging film is a much-needed investigation into the dubious intentions of the mental health industry.

It's also the first foray into feature-length filmmaking by upstart conservative press Passage Publishing. And Passage chose a novel way to get people to watch it.

You can see the lack of money on the screen. But you can also feel a sense of rebellion and scrappiness. A kind of upstart energy.

I hadn’t heard of "Thank You" until it popped up on my X feed. It would be available for one week, for free.

If the strategy sounds familiar, it may be because another low-budget, right-leaning film recently stumbled onto something similar — with spectacular results.

'Citizen Vigilante'

Last June, "Citizen Vigilante" was already making waves online, particularly in right-wing circles, when Elon Musk stepped in and dramatically expanded its audience.

The film had received a conventional release through independent distributor Quiver, including a very limited theatrical run in the United States. But the movie had little prospect of reaching much of the rest of the world. Germany had even refused to give it a rating, effectively "banning" it.

Then Musk contacted director Uwe Boll's team and, with their permission, made the entire movie available free on X for 48 hours.

The stunt worked. "Citizen Vigilante" climbed into the top 10 on video-on-demand platforms including Apple and Amazon, and Quiver subsequently acquired worldwide distribution rights, excluding a handful of territories.

"Citizen Vigilante" stars canceled Hollywood actor Armie Hammer as an American real estate heir living in Croatia who reinvents himself as a vigilante, hunting down rapists, bullies, and other criminals, many of them migrants.

From the start, the film generated huge amounts of controversy, its apparent anti-immigration politics constituting an almost unimaginable affront to the leftist entertainment industry.

Unfortunately, "Citizen Vigilante" is a terrible movie. The plot makes no sense, and the filmmaking is on par with Boll's famously schlocky, gore-filled B-grade films.

But its release remained a major cultural event. Mainstream media felt obligated to comment on the film and denounce its politics. This, in turn, forced Western progressives to defend their widely unpopular open-border policies.

The rise of the right-wing film

I’ve seen a bunch of right-wing films over the last year. They tend to fall into a couple of different categories.

There are the Christian-influenced films, like "Sound of Freedom" (2023) or "Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist" (2023).

In these films, a high level of sincerity is immediately evident. There’s a minimum of snark. People profess their love of God or Jesus unabashedly.

It takes a while to get used to genuine people of faith as characters in a movie. Hollywood generally mocks or criticizes such people. But once the surprise wears off, it’s quite refreshing.

Matt Walsh in a wig

Then there are the satirical films. Matt Walsh has made several of these. His best two are "What Is a Woman?" (2022) and "Am I a Racist?" (2024). Both were made on limited budgets.

But they both work. In "Am I a Racist?" Walsh dresses up in ridiculous getups, impersonating leftoid weirdos of various types.

It’s quite funny and effective. Though making fun of people like Robin DiAngelo isn’t that hard. But that’s the point.

American movie

Then there are patriotic movies, like "Young Washington" (2026) and "Reagan" (2024), in which Dennis Quaid plays the 40th president. .

"Reagan" wasn’t a perfect film, but it was fun to review Ronald Reagan’s long and extraordinary life. I teared up at the end, remembering the grace and humility — even in his final days — of one of our greatest presidents.

Dinesh D’Souza’s docu-drama "Death of a Nation" (2018) was well intentioned and strongly pro-American, but suffered from a lack of funding.

D’Souza has made a whole series of these low-budget patriotic films. He began making them way back before the first Trump administration. So kudos to him for blazing a trail.

MAGA by mistake

Then there is "The Apprentice" (2024), which depicted President Trump’s youth and rise as a businessman. This was not intended as a right-wing film, but I suspect more Trump supporters saw it than detractors.

I found the film interesting, even as it shamelessly attempted to smear Trump in the most mean-spirited ways. Ultimately, it made Trump seem shrewd and sympathetic, despite the bad intentions of the filmmakers.

Rumors of war

A similar film was "Civil War" (2024), by mainstream director Alex Garland. The story seemed inspired by the heated election-fraud discourse after the 2020 election. People thought we might actually have a civil war!

Right-wing viewers appreciated the realism of the film. Garland created a “low-intensity” war scenario, where some people are actively fighting and other people are going about their lives.

In the end, Garland sold out to the left, revealing a blubbering, cowardly Trump-clone dictator to be the cause of the conflict.

Still, the movie was intelligently done and possibly prophetic and thus was a hit with young conservatives.

RELATED: 'Civil War' gives journos their dumb Trump dictator fantasy

A24

Grit > $

Most of the right-wing movies listed above were clearly made without Hollywood-level financing. You can see the lack of money on the screen.

But you can also feel a sense of rebellion and scrappiness. A kind of upstart energy. These are the underdog films of their time.

When I watched the opening scenes of "Sound of Freedom" — a great film by any measure — and I saw the lack of slickness, the lack of pampered movie stars, the lack of smarmy leftism, I got excited.

This is what I want from movies: passion, effort, resourcefulness, and most of all filmmakers who believe in what they are doing.

The Real Citizen Vigilantes Roaming Europe Are Armed Muslims Imposing Sharia Law

European Islamic vigilante gangs largely operate with impunity on the emotively claimed grounds of 'self-defense' from harassment by 'dangerous' white people.

'The ship is already sinking': Why the 'Citizen Vigilante' director wants to shock you



The corporate entertainment complex is experiencing a collective nervous breakdown. The catalyst for this sudden departure from sanity is "Citizen Vigilante," a cinematic hand grenade that blows the lid off the establishment's favorite lies.

Directed by the notoriously uncompromising Uwe Boll, the film takes the documented reality of Europe's border crisis, pairs it with an industry outcast, and refuses to apologize for the violence that follows.

'Everybody loved that I knocked out the critics,' Boll notes dryly. 'They stepped into the ring and received a much-needed reality check.'

Film reviewers, conditioned by years of ideological conformity, responded with their usual panic-stricken script, hurling accusations of "fascism" like overexcited monkeys slinging feces.

Crying 'fascist'

When asked why modern film critics seem so threatened by stories that reflect public frustrations instead of establishment-approved narratives, Boll doesn't hesitate.

"They know that the facts are against them and they have no defense," Boll states matter-of-factly. "So they label everyone a fascist or a Nazi if they point out that criminals need to be prosecuted and, if possible, deported."

"The leftist governments in Europe are victims of their own propaganda. They are under immense pressure to ignore grooming scandals, knife stabbings, and all forms of violent random crime."

The hysterical reaction from the press stems from a deep-seated fear of the obvious. For years, the European establishment maintained control by enforcing a strict code of censorship around the predictable outcomes of open-door migration policies. "Citizen Vigilante" breaks that code with a sledgehammer.

The film acts as a mirror to a continent where citizens are told to accept acts of savagery as a standard feature of daily life. When art reflects the dark reality instead of the utopian fantasy, the gatekeepers reach for the chloroform.

RELATED: 'Citizen Vigilante': A cinematic hand grenade lobbed at the cathedral of liberal pieties

bollfilms.com

Hammer time

The casting of the lead role provided another opportunity to challenge the industry's enforced consensus. Beyond his fit for the role, casting Armie Hammer felt like a well-earned middle finger to an entertainment industry obsessed with moral conformity.

"Armie was a major star and would be the perfect James Bond," Boll says. "Unfortunately, in today's climate, a one-legged transgender person from Bangladesh has a better chance of getting that part."

"By the way," he adds, "that is not a joke against transgender people — that is a joke against the insanity of the woke police running Hollywood. Armie acted irresponsibly years ago, but he committed no crime. He rehabilitated himself and deserves to be a major star again. He was perfect for the role of Sanders, so I hired him."

Boll is right. Hammer, a genuinely gifted actor, is not a criminal. Whatever one makes of his personal controversies, they are not comparable to the depravities of Harvey Weinstein. On screen, the American’s stoic, unsentimental delivery of justice feels both refreshing and revolutionary.

Hollywood thrives on a system of selective banishment, enforcing a social credit system that demands absolute ideological submission. Hiring Hammer was a calculated rejection of that ecosystem. It demonstrated that a filmmaker with independent backing can bypass the arbitrary tribunals of the cultural elite.

Wake-up call

The performance itself fuels a narrative that focuses directly on the systematic failure of European state institutions. The complete lack of public safety in major European centers is a daily reality on the streets of Berlin, Paris, and London, where the native populations find themselves treated as second-class citizens by their own representatives.

This fact is not lost on Boll.

"Germany is going down the drain, just like the U.K. and France, and we have watched it unfold for at least 15 years," the filmmaker explains. "Now that more middle-class citizens are feeling the impact, they are starting to wake up and get upset. The general population always reacts too late, usually when the ship is already sinking and they have lost their jobs, their homes, or are simply running out of money for groceries. Then they become resentful and depressed.”

He considers his latest film “a harsh wake-up call designed for shock value to accelerate that awakening. Politicians are elected to bring safety and prosperity to their country. That is not happening.”

In Germany, he adds, “our bridges and schools are literally falling apart, but we are funding bicycle lanes in Peru. That is a documented fact, not a joke." He’s right. It’s true.

Contract killers

This disconnect forms the emotional center of the film's protagonist, a man driven to extreme measures by the state's total abdication of authority. The character's narrative arc reflects a growing sentiment across the continent. When the social contract is voided by the ruling class, the consequences will be severe.

Michael Sanders goes to some incredibly dark places by the end of the film, leaving fans to wonder if the sequel will bring a deeper escalation of his crusade or a confrontation with the true cost of taking the law into his own hands.

Boll remains coy about the exact plot of the sequel. "Maybe both," he offers.

Bounty hunter

Obviously, one cannot interview Boll without discussing his decision to stream the film for free on X via Elon Musk's account. This move bypassed traditional distribution entirely, rendering traditional studios obsolete.

"Thanks to X, the world could watch the film for two days," Boll says. However, he adds, “you still need theatrical releases, Blu-ray, television, and streaming revenues to generate a profit. If you launch exclusively on social media, you would need an alternative model to get compensated for the work."

In theory, this alternative model would look like a digital bounty system — direct-to-consumer micro-subscriptions or platform-backed ad-revenue splits driven entirely by viral engagement rather than studio greenlights. It is desperately needed because the current gatekeepers don't just take a cut of the profit but also a cut of the truth.

The entertainment elite dislikes independent distribution channels because they destroy the monopoly on information. This rebellious streak defines Boll's career. Twenty years ago, he famously challenged his fiercest critics to actual boxing matches and beat them in the ring, an event that permanently altered his relationship with the film establishment.

"Everybody loved that I knocked out the critics," Boll notes dryly. "They stepped into the ring and received a much-needed reality check." With "Citizen Vigilante," Boll delivers the ultimate right hook, forcing open the eyes of the cultural commissars who would very much like us to ignore reality.

'Citizen Vigilante': A cinematic hand grenade lobbed at the cathedral of liberal pieties



There are films you watch, films you forget, and films that perfectly capture the moment. Uwe Boll’s "Citizen Vigilante" belongs firmly in the last category.

It’s provocative, violent, and unafraid to push the audience past their comfort zone. I watched it for free on Rumble and thoroughly enjoyed every chaotic minute — as did Elon Musk, who has been one of the film's most vocal cheerleaders. It’s exactly the kind of cinematic hand grenade a hyper-sanitized culture desperately needs.

Watching a criminal actually face consequences on screen acts as a primal pressure valve, venting a lifetime of stored-up civic frustration.

Boll has spent his career making films that divide audiences. Never one to chase Hollywood approval or fashionable opinion, the German has built his reputation on confronting subjects most directors would rather avoid. His films are designed to provoke rather than comfort, confronting audiences with uncomfortable questions about crime, power, justice, and human nature. With "Citizen Vigilante," he has delivered what may be his most explosive film yet.

Banned in Germany

Unsurprisingly, the film has already been effectively banned in Boll’s homeland. Regulators refused to give it a rating, terrified by how squarely it hits the nail on the head regarding the taboo subject of immigrant crime.

The story plays out like "Taken" on steroids. Armie Hammer stars as a relentless citizen vigilante — a protagonist for the right, an antagonist for the left — who decides that if the system won't protect people from brutal gangs, he will. He hunts down violent criminals, tackles rapists, and cleans house with zero remorse. For the uninitiated, there is a delicious irony in Hammer playing a ruthless meat-grinder of a hero, considering his Hollywood career was spectacularly derailed during #MeToo by the preposterous, headline-grabbing accusation that he was a literal, real-life cannibal.

But the sensational headlines surrounding its star shouldn't distract from what the film actually achieves. "Citizen Vigilante" taps into something many Americans and Europeans have been feeling for years: a growing belief that public safety has been abandoned while the institutions meant to preserve it are busy updating their LinkedIn profiles.

Modest expectation

The average viewers aren't foaming-at-the-mouth psychopaths looking for bloodshed. They’re just exhausted taxpayers who enjoy seeing a little efficient, off-the-books urban renewal. They simply want the radical, avant-garde luxury of a competent government, functioning courts, and streets where a casual evening stroll doesn't require Kevlar.

Today, that modest expectation feels like pure wishful thinking.

Across much of Europe and parts of America, headlines dominate with depressing regularity: violent crime, repeat offenders, and overwhelmed police departments. Social media ensures that every shocking incident reaches millions before breakfast. Whether official crime statistics rise or fall matters less than the overwhelming public perception that governments have completely lost the plot. That perception is powerful, and ignoring it won't make it disappear.

When citizens watch career criminals coast through the justice system on a judicial subscription plan — while prosecutors decline charges and politicians offer nothing but thoughts, prayers, and early release — frustration ceases to be passive. Eventually, cynicism becomes the prevailing sentiment, and people begin to ask a rather important question: What happens when the people responsible for enforcing justice appear completely incapable of delivering it?

That question sits right at the heart of "Citizen Vigilante."

RELATED: Banned 'anti-migrant' movie 'Citizen Vigilante' shoots to No. 1 after Elon Musk intervention

L-R: ALLISON ROBBERT/AFP/Getty Images; Foc Kan/WireImage/Getty Images

Broken social contract

Hammer’s character, Sanders, is no comic-book superhero in spandex. He's simply a man looking at a broken social contract, watching violent thugs thrive while victims suffer, and decides to roll up his sleeves and fix the sewage himself. You don't have to endorse his butcher-shop methods to appreciate the exact brand of exhaustion driving them.

The enduring appeal of vigilante cinema, from Clint Eastwood classics to "Death Wish," has never reflected a secret public desire for lawlessness. Rather, it exposes a deep craving for consequences, a desperate desire to see the cosmic ledger balanced when the authorities refuse to do it themselves. When official justice goes missing, fictional justice becomes deeply satisfying. Watching a criminal actually face consequences on screen acts as a primal pressure valve, venting a lifetime of stored-up civic frustration.

The film understands this dynamic remarkably well, but it also highlights a dark humor running beneath the entire premise. Governments spend fortunes producing nauseating public relations campaigns celebrating "community resilience" while struggling to deliver the rather unfashionable service of keeping parasitic scum off the streets.

Citizens are treated to endless speeches about values while wondering if they'll get stabbed on the subway ride home. Somewhere along the way, basic competence checked into a witness protection program.

No wonder the film has captured the cultural imagination. Viewers want to see what a world with accountability, no matter how brutal, actually looks like. Many in their 20s and 30s have never known a society where real consequences actually exist. I am one of those people.

"Citizen Vigilante" operates best not as a love letter to anarchy, but as an autopsy of our institutions. After all, the rogue actor only becomes a romantic figure when legitimate authority is revealed to be purely ornamental.

Citizen Vigilante Aims Wildly Popular Punisher Genre At Politically Incorrect Migrant Invaders

If we are used to movies showing us multiculturalism™ as a moral good, Citizen Vigilante dares to say it can also be viewed as a moral failing.

Banned 'anti-migrant' movie 'Citizen Vigilante' shoots to No. 1 after Elon Musk intervention



A film that is triggering progressive critics is becoming a viral sensation after the director called it "an inconvenient truth."

The movie stars actor Armie Hammer as a man who takes justice into his own hands after he feels the government and law enforcement have failed to protect their citizens.

'Racist, xenophobic, ethnocentrist.'

'X' rated

"Citizen Vigilante" has been called "anti-migrant," "racist, xenophobic," and "incomprehensible," yet audiences seem to love it.

With a fan score of 94% on popular review site Rotten Tomatoes, critics seem once again to be at odds with audiences while drawing a political line in the sand.

A huge social media push has seen the movie top the streaming charts, with multiple outlets reporting on Monday that "Citizen Vigilante" soared to No. 1 on Amazon Prime's "Top 10 movies to rent or buy," where it still stood at the time of this writing.

The film was reportedly No. 2 on Apple TV's top movie list on Monday as well.

This all came after X owner Elon Musk posted "Citizen Vigilante" for free download on his platform last Thursday — with director Uwe Boll's permission — garnering at least 8 million views by Musk's own account.

Boll responded on X, "Dear Elon thank you. Donald Trump needs to see the film."

RELATED: 'Citizen Vigilante': Outlaw director takes unflinching look at migrant violence

Banned abroad

By all accounts, the film draws on anti-immigration sentiments that are becoming popular around the world, and even references real-life migrant crimes for its story.

The movie has already been banned in Germany because it was found to be "inciting violence against migrants," director Boll told Variety in June.

Boll called it "deliberate censorship" that was "on purpose."

In an email to Newsweek, the director said his movie "shows an inconvenient truth what all other movies out there don't want to show or try to sugarcoat in their productions."

Boll added, "The audience wants real films again — bold and with impact and about reality."

Bans and negative reviews have been overtaken by the film's momentum, and the flick was just acquired by Quiver Distribution for a worldwide push, except for in the U.K., German-speaking territories, South Korea, and Taiwan.

RELATED: 'Supergirl' has disastrous opening after star declares character 'doesn't live inside the binary'

Many such (angry) cases

Many critics have not enjoyed the film, with some reviewers declining to even score it.

For example, Stefan Birgir Stefans called the film "brain dead" and gave no score, while Variety's Todd Gilchrist similarly gave no rating and said the director was "deliberately sabotaging his star."

Nicholas Bell said the film was "magnifying its xenophobia through the beacon of far-right agitprop," while Joseph Robinson called it "a discriminatory parable."

It was U.K. outlet the Guardian that dubbed "Citizen Vigilante" as "anti-migrant" on Tuesday, with Ready Steady Cut describing the film as "utterly incurious and incomprehensible, but politically barbed."

Critic Jonathon Wilson argued the film was for people who believe "immigrants are to blame for all the violent crimes in the West to see as a rubric for defending their homeland."

Tyler Thier of In Review Online summarized the movie as "racist, xenophobic, ethnocentrist, alt-right agitprop manufactured to piss off the 'woke Left.'"

The consistent use of "agitprop" by reviewers is, interestingly enough, a reference to pro-communist propaganda used by the Soviet Union.

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