Musk takes ‘crusade’ to Europe with Armie Hammer film

Citizen Vigilante was cheered by many far-right activists on X, even as others slammed the movie, not only for its politics but for its thin plot, cheap-looking special effects and abundance of gore.

After the publicity boost, Boll estimated that the film made about $600,000 from streaming, against a budget of $2m. Critics were scathing. Variety called it “astonishingly bad” while prominent American conservative commentator Rod Dreher called it “fascist propaganda”, although he and some others on the right defended its depiction of a Europe in turmoil.

The film’s portrayal of European society dovetails with the bleak vision pushed by Musk and others on the right – that citizens have been utterly betrayed by a corrupt establishment, that migrants are at the root of violence and chaos, and that extreme measures are needed to restore order.

“People who are complaining that he spends the first half of the movie murdering white people not migrants fail to understand… Always hang a traitor before you shoot an enemy,” read one message reposted by Musk.

Challenged last week in an Economist interview on whether he was being irresponsible to promote a film which glorifies the murder of a Muslim family, Musk said: “It’s a movie and it’s worth watching.”

“I don’t think Europe’s a hell hole,” he said, but also insisted that “there was out of control rape and murder.”

He also stood by previous statements that he believed civil war in the UK was “inevitable”, and referring to Muslims, he said: “If you have a large and rapidly growing group of people whose beliefs are antithetical to Western beliefs, at some point there will be a reckoning.”

The tech titan also said he had not visited the UK in several years.

Musk’s defenders have often praised his professed support for unfettered online speech and have chalked some of his more extreme stances up to online exaggeration.

Others say his influence over politics in the UK and Europe is limited.

“I don’t think he has much political sway in Britain or on the continent,” says Gawain Towler, a former Reform UK director of communications who still supports the party.

Towler says he credits Musk with highlighting rape gangs in British cities and says he is relaxed about the tycoon’s support for Lowe and Restore.

“I generally prefer the stuff he says about his businesses,” he says.