Vue Cinemas appears to have taken Dashcam off its listings, after deeming the film potentially offensive for its audiences.
UPDATE: Vue has now responded to us with a statement on this story. It reads:
“Our decision not to screen DASHCAM was informed purely by the commercial conditions not being viable. We are currently investigating the cause of the incorrect information about our rationale for not screening this film, and we are sorry for any confusion that this has caused.”
Our original story from earlier today follows….
I can’t say I was a huge fan of director Rob Savage’s new film, Dashcam. It has some really effective moments, but in this case, it didn’t hugely work for me. I think his previous movie, Host, is a bloody masterpiece, and he’s a filmmaker hugely on my radar.
In the case of Dashcam, it’s a deliberately provocative film centred around Annie (played by Annie Hardy), a very right-wing live stream dashcam host who’s actively breaking lockdowns and riling people up. The film had been picked up for UK cinema exhibition by Entertainment One, and it was due in cinemas this weekend.
One of the chains that’s programmed the film is Vue, but according to its customer support team, it’s now removed screenings of the film due to what it considers the offensive nature of the movie.
Now I try really hard to make this site not about culture wars, and I generally think that cancel culture is more about consequence culture.
However, we’re heading down a very difficult road if films are being removed from cinema listings because they might be offensive. Heck, I remember sitting through The Riot Club and absolutely raging, but it never occurred to me it shouldn’t be shown.
I’ve contacted Vue’s reps to get an official statement or line on this. In the meantime, here’s Rob Savage’s Tweet, quoting Vue’s customer support.
Dashcam opens today around the UK, albeit in fewer places than originally planned.Apparently @vuecinemas have canceled our screenings of DASHCAM because the movie is too offensive!
If that doesn’t make you want to watch this film, what will? pic.twitter.com/FfOOgvumlC — Rob Savage (@DirRobSavage) June 1, 2022
