Film classification body receives record number complaints in 4 years

The UK's film classification body received its highest number of complaints in four years, driven by youngsters complaining they were not being allowed into films they wanted to see.

According to the British Board of Film Classification's newly published annual report, it appears it was children rather than the adults who were particularly upset by its age ratings last year.

The report reveals that it received 148 complaints in total about its 'classification decisions' in 2023.

This was more than the 109 in 2022, the 90 from the previous year and the 94 in 2020, but less than 149 in 2019.

The most complained about issue was the film body's decision to give US horror thriller Five Nights at Freddy's, based on a video game, a 15 age-rating.

This sparked 26 complaints 'all from cinemagoers aged under 15 who could not attend because of the rating'.

The film, which portrays a man in a security job working in a diner where he is 'tormented by animatronic monsters', features 'scenes of strong and sustained threat' according to the BBFC.

It includes 'stabbings' and 'slashings with bladed instruments' as well as an 'undetailed decapitation', which 'exceeded expectations at 12A'.

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The second most complained about decision, was to give a recording of a live concert by US pop star Billie Eilish a 15 rating, due to 'the volume of strong language'. This sparked 17 complaints about the rating.

But the BBFC, overseen by former BBC News anchor Natasha Kaplinsky, said: 'As with Five Nights at Freddy's, the complaints were all from fans aged under 15 who were disappointed that they would not be able to see the film at the cinema.'

The film contained about eight uses of the f-word and two uses of 'motherf******'.

The film was subsequently re-edited with the strong language taken out, with this version given a new rating of a 12A.

Other films to include complaints were Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 due to 'moments of injury detail' and 'scenes of cruelty against fantastical talking animals'.

The film, which featured 'distressing scenes of CGI animals being turned into robot-animal hybrids', had been classified 12A for 'moderate violence, injury detail, threat and infrequent strong language'.

The BBFC also received 15 complaints based on 'internet rumours' that the 4K release of The Abyss had been cancelled due to BBFC advice.

The BBFC pointed out it was not involved in in the releasing of films and this was 'a matter for the film's distributor'.

The age rating of Tom Hanks' film A Man Called Otto, received five complaints over its 15 rating, due to the film's suicide theme. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, classed as 12A, also attracted five complaints because of a character's suicide.

The BBFC said: 'We classify content in line with our published Classification Guidelines which are the result of widescale consultations with thousands of people from across the UK, extensive research, and more than 100 years of experience.

'We receive a relatively small number of complaints about its classification decisions each year.'

A BBFC spokesman added: 'We value public feedback and respond to every email and letter we receive. Feedback helps shape the large-scale public consultations carried out at each review of our Classification Guidelines.'

The complaints from youngsters appear to be a stark contrast to the work of Mary Whitehouse, a British Christian moral campaigner who came to prominence in the 1970s and 80s.

Whitehouse sought to protect the public from obscene – particularly pornographic – content on Television in an increasingly permissive age.