Jennifer Lawrence’s “Red Sparrow” featured the Oscar-winning actor in one of her most provocative roles to date, and apparently that’s one of the reasons the movie was named by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) as the most complained about film of 2018. As reported by The Independent, the BBFC received 64 complaints about Lawrence and director Francis Lawrence’s Russian spy thriller. All of the complains against the movie argued that its 15 rating in the UK was too low due to the level of violence.
“Red Sparrow” cast Lawrence as a ballerina who is brainwashed into becoming a ruthless spy by the Russian government. The film received an R rating in North America for “strong violence, torture, sexual content
The second most complained about film in 2018 was the family adventure “Peter Rabbit,” which stirred controversy last year for featuring a scene in which the rabbit characters harm a human adult by knowingly using his food allergy against him. The BBFC received 50 complaints about the topic before “Peter Rabbit” was released in UK theaters but rejected the notion the scene would inspire bullying in real life.
“The scene in question … [is] part of an ongoing battle between the rabbits and the owner of a vegetable garden,” the BBFC report said. “The pelting with fruit is simply one of the ploys the rabbits use in order to overcome their nemesis in response to his attempts to trap them, electrocute them, drown them and blow them up.”
Additional complaints were filed to the BBFC regarding the trailer for 20th Century Fox’s “Love Simon,” which was certified PG. Some moviegoers claimed the “depiction of gay relationships to be inappropriate at the PG level,” but the BBFC rejected the claims and said it rates films “regardless of [the] sexual orientation” of characters featured in them.
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