White Supremacists Love Armie Hammer’s New Movie

In Citizen Vigilante, Armie Hammer he plays Sanders, a former US soldier who takes over his father’s empire in an unnamed European country. Outraged by what he sees as an Islamist takeover of the continent, Sanders begins killing immigrants, youths, and judges he sees as sensitive.

In the film, Hammer’s character is inspired by watching videos from Instagram social media platforms showing people around the world applauding his violent anti-immigrant work.

“Have you ever heard of this European terrorist? He’s like a real person. This man is littering,” said one woman in the video clip, adding, “I think we need someone like that here in the United States.”

Unsurprisingly, extremists in the real world love it too.

In the weeks since the film’s release, white supremacists and other extremists have praised the film’s message and said it could act as a book for people to follow in real life. “Maybe violence against immigrants is what’s needed,” wrote one member of a right-wing channel discussing the film. “It’s the only way, he doesn’t feel sorry, he wants you to die,” wrote another in response.

The video repeats the baseless conspiracy theory that Muslim immigrants will take over the world, and has been widely criticized by critics who have called it “surprisingly bad” and “racist, xenophobic, ethnocentrist, alt-right agitprop.” It was released in June just a few weeks later Anti-immigrant violence led to violence in the UK and Northern Ireland.

The film was directed by Uwe Boll, considered by many to be one of the worst directors of all time. He is perhaps best known for his video game adaptations Alone in the Dark and BloodRayneBoll, who has previously fired back at critics and once challenged Michael Bay to face him in the ring, has also made films about issues such as the Holocaust and peacekeeping operations in Darfur. (The film about Darfur did, however, win best international film at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.)

Boll he told Piers Morgan in the interview that he was not against Muslims, but in the comments to Hollywood Elsewhere he said Muslims “will take power in about 30 years and then they will start killing everyone who has not converted to Islam.”

Boll tells WIRED that he was “referring to or referring to radical Islamists” in his statement to Hollywood Elsewhere, adding: “They believe in stone-age, hostile, anti-democratic, and violent laws.”

The movie was real prohibited in Boll’s home country of Germany for “inciting violence against immigrants,” and like many other Boll projects had to be ignored, until Elon Musk, who has been admitting it for weeks, intervened.

Musk shared the entire film on X for 48 hours where it received millions of views. During his promotion, Musk shared a scene from the film where Hammer’s character kills an entire family of Syrian refugees whose son accuses him of raping a 14-year-old girl as a “proper response.”

The film was also released through popular streaming services. At one point, it made it to the top 10 list of ad services targeted by Apple and Amazon. And because the film has not been released in other countries, some right-wing groups have been showing the film online.

“What’s even more disturbing about the racist violence shown in this film is that the violence against immigrants has been so well known that the film can be produced and distributed,” says Wendy Via, co-founder and president of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. “Influencers like Musk, who have millions of followers, who use their platforms to spread bigotry and conspiracy theories, are the main source of this unacceptable hatred.”