Armie Hammer Vigilante Film Banned in Germany Over Anti-Migrant Content, Director Says

German-born director Uwe Boll says his new action thriller “Citizen Vigilante,” starring Armie Hammer, has been effectively banned in his home country after regulators refused to certify the film. The director claims regulators say it was deemed to incite violence against migrants.

The film, billed as a modern-day riff on “Death Wish,” was released in the United States on Friday by Quiver. It did not receive an age rating from Germany’s FSK certification board, rendering it commercially unavailable in the country.

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The film follows Mr. Hammer as Sanders, an ordinary man enraged by what he views as a breakdown of law and order, who decides to deliver vigilante justice to criminals and the corrupt officials he believes protect them. His targets are mostly, but not exclusively, migrants. The film opens with a mother being stabbed to death by migrant criminals in front of her son.

Mr. Boll said the film was inspired by a 2016 case in Hamburg in which a group of teenagers gang-raped a 14-year-old girl and received only suspended sentences.

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Mr. Boll also pushed back against what he described as a reflexive labeling of conservatives as extremists.

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Mr. Boll also said he hopes to work with actor Kevin Spacey, who prevailed in civil and criminal proceedings stemming from sexual misconduct allegations.

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