Uwe Boll Drops Controversial Film 'Citizen Vigilante' on X For "48 Hours" After German Ban

If you want to watch Armie Hammer’s latest film for free, you have a very short window. On June 25, director Uwe Boll uploaded Citizen Vigilante in its entirety to the film’s official account on X.

But there’s a catch. The post will expire after just 48 hours, disappearing on June 27 at 10 AM ET.

“The movie Hollywood doesn’t want you to see,” the caption read. Elon Musk subsequently retweeted the post.

The action thriller, written, produced and directed by Uwe Boll, was released in select U.S. theaters and digitally on June 19 through Quiver Distribution.

It follows Sanders, played by Hammer, who, after witnessing a violent crime, turns to vigilante justice, targeting criminals and corrupt officials. As his actions go viral, he becomes a polarizing public figure, celebrated by some, hunted by law enforcement and powerful enemies.

The film has drawn significant controversy over its subject matter.

Germany's FSK film rating board withheld an age rating entirely, creating an effective distribution block that prevents the film from being shown in cinemas, on television, on streaming services or through major retailers in the country.

Boll told The Daily Telegraph: "The rating system refused to give us a rating in Germany, so now you can only watch it if you bring in a Blu-ray from Austria or Switzerland. 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."

He said that the film drew inspiration from a 2016 case in Hamburg in which a group of teenagers gang-raped a 14-year-old girl and received only suspended sentences. He also referenced recent unrest in Belfast as evidence of the film's timeliness.

“The subject matter is so in our faces, and if you look at what’s just happened in Belfast, it’s incredibly timely. I hope that the film gets released in Britain sooner rather than later, because I know that in America there’s a lot of interest and response.”

“In Europe at the moment, people are shying away from making this kind of harsh political movie, but I’ve always tried to smuggle politics into genre movies. This isn’t a documentary, it’s a thriller, and I hope that viewers respond to it,” he added.

“It’s as if we’re living in a completely insane and absurd political environment, especially in Europe, where people have completely lost track. There is a huge difference between so-called ‘hate speech’ and stabbing people in the neck. But facts don’t matter anymore.”

Also starring Costas Mandylor, Neb Chupin and Désirée Giorgetti, Citizen Vigilante holds a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of publication but has drawn largely negative reviews from professional critics.

Variety’s Todd Gilchrist writes, “The film is so astonishingly bad, it almost feels like writer-director-producer Uwe Boll is deliberately sabotaging his star Armie Hammer, whose intended comeback can only be harmed by this project.”

Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere wrote that he felt "so badly for Armie as the film is so blunt and crude and more or less brimming with hate against 'the immigrant other,' and lacking in setting up a believable context and a social realism backdrop."

The film marks Hammer's most prominent role since his career collapsed following sexual assault and emotional abuse allegations in 2021. A Los Angeles Police Department investigation ultimately concluded without charges being filed.

Before the controversy, Hammer had appeared in David Fincher's The Social Network, Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger, and Luca Guadagnino's 2017 critically acclaimed Call Me by Your Name, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination.

Boll said he cast Hammer specifically because of his cancellation. "He wasn't charged with anything, there was no lawsuit. He was just a guy who was famous and f---ing around. He's a handsome, charismatic guy, who could be James Bond," Boll told The Daily Telegraph.