> Citizen Vigilante

Citizen Vigilante is a 2026 vigilante action thriller film produced, written, and directed by Uwe Boll. It stars Armie Hammer as Michael Sanders, a vigilante who targets migrants, criminals, and corrupt officials. The film was reportedly inspired by a 2016 case in Hamburg where a 14-year-old girl was alledgedly gang-raped by teenagers while they received only suspended sentences.

The film was released in select theaters and digitally on June 19, 2026. It received negative reviews. It did not receive an age rating in Germany, effectively banning it in the country.
Plot

In an unnamed European city, a young mother is fatally stabbed in front of her son by a passing migrant. A news report states that parents are afraid to let their children play outside and that women avoid going out after dark.

Michael Sanders is a former U.S. Army officer who moved to Europe after inheriting his estranged father's real estate business. He secretly operates as the Vigilante Citizen, a ruthless vigilante who targets those who have escaped justice. While much of the public praises his actions, the police, led by Interpol chief Henry, are determined to arrest him.

After killing a group of racketeers, Sanders confronts several fare-dodging thugs on a bus. He pays their fares so the journey can continue, but lectures them about the impact of their behavior on society. Later, at a hospital, Sanders visits Elsa, a rape victim who was severely beaten during the attack. He offers her a choice: pursue justice through the courts, with no guarantee of success, or endorse his intervention. She chooses to support him. Henry later asks Elsa for a description of her visitor, but she deliberately provides one that does not match Sanders. During a meeting with his business manager, Sanders orders the eviction of non-paying tenants and vows to oppose government efforts to seize vacant properties for migrant housing.

Suspicious of Sanders, Henry surveils a nightclub he frequents. There, he watches Sanders switch the drinks of two men with the drugged beverages they had intended for their dates. Henry collects a drinking glass that Sanders used to obtain his DNA. After linking Sanders to the vigilante, Henry leads a SWAT team to apprehend him. Sanders barricades himself inside an armored container and warns the officers to leave. However, they open fire, prompting him to kill them before escaping, and an explosive booby-trap injures Henry. A subsequent news report suggests that rising crime and associated costs may necessitate a reassessment of migration policies.

Sanders later meets a teenage rape victim whose six migrant attackers were released without punishment because the Judge, Reinhold, considered them to be victims due to their difficulties integrating into society. The teenage victim tells Sanders she has been denied justice.

While walking through a park, Sanders encounters the same thugs from the bus harassing a man. He crushes the hands of the two male assailants before warning them never to repeat their behavior. Sanders later kidnaps Reinhold and fatally slits the judge's wrists. Finally, Sanders visits the home of Yusuf, one of the rapists, and takes him and his family hostage. As Yusuf's relatives excuse his actions and blame the victim, Sanders orders him to summon his accomplices to the apartment. Once they arrive, Sanders executes Yusuf, his family, and the other attackers.

Sanders calls the hospitalized Henry and tells him to inform the government that the public will not tolerate a takeover by the woke left and Islamist extremists that will destroy democracy. He warns that the government must stop it or the people will do so themselves. Henry arranges to address the press if the Prime Minister will not listen to him.

At home, the teenage victim learns that her attackers are dead and reacts with satisfaction. A scrambled video message from Sanders is broadcast, declaring that his work will continue until the citizens learn to defend themselves.

    Armie Hammer as Michael Sanders
    Costas Mandylor as Interpol Regional Chief Henry
    Désirée Giorgetti as Elsa
    Steffen Mennekes as Manager Owen
    Neb Chupin as SWAT Leader Pierre
    Mukit Abdul Hamid as Yusuf
    Fares Mongy as Ibrahim
    Hila Harush as Dehlia
    Helen Al Janabi as Sarna
    Dora Dimic Rakar as Raped Girl
    Tvrtko Juric as Raped Girl's Father
    Roni Lepej as Judge Reinhold
    Vjekoslav Katusin as Mafia Boss

Production

In January 2025, it was announced that a thriller film produced, written, and directed by Uwe Boll titled The Dark Knight was in pre-production, with Armie Hammer cast in the lead role. Principal photography began on January 27, 2025, in Croatia with Mathias Neumann serving as the cinematographer. In February, Costas Mandylor joined the cast. Filming wrapped on April 3, 2025. Warner Bros. sent Boll a cease-and-desist letter regarding the use of the title The Dark Knight. In April 2025, the title had been changed to Citizen Vigilante.

Variety reported that the film "was inspired by a notorious case in Hamburg in 2016, when a group of teenagers gang-raped a 14-year-old girl and left her for dead, only for the perpetrators to walk free with suspended sentences."

Release

In February 2026, Quiver Distribution acquired the film rights to Citizen Vigilante, which was released on June 19, 2026.

According to Boll, the film was denied an age certification in Germany for promoting vigilantism, effectively banning it from wide distribution. The film has not been put on the "Index", making it legal to own or sell to adults. In response, Boll publicly argued that the board used "youth protection" as a pretext to suppress the film due to its focus on migration-linked crime in Europe. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Boll stated: "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."

The film was released on X on June 25, 2026 for 48 hours, and was reposted by Elon Musk.

It has been suggested that efforts to ban the film have had the opposite effect, boosting its reach.

Reception

Todd Gilchrist of Variety described the film as "astonishingly bad" and a "violent, incoherent, morally bankrupt slice of exploitation", with Hammer's character being as "xenophobic and entitled as the broadest American stereotype" who delivers "self-righteous monologues". He wrote that Hammer displayed "little of that spark" of his earlier charisma, and Boll's script as giving the character "prejudiced screeds", also commenting that the film felt "like the writer-director-producer is deliberately sabotaging his star Armie Hammer, whose intended comeback can only be harmed by this project".

Positive reviews of the film praised Armie Hammer's performance and its exploration of justice, revenge, and moral ambiguity, describing it as a provocative thriller that challenges audiences rather than endorses vigilantism and comparing it to classic vigilante films such as Dirty Harry and Straw Dogs.