A trailer for Lionsgate’s The Housemaid, Disney’s The Roses and Zee Studios’ Emergency were the releases for which the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) received the most complaints in 2025.
The ‘18’ classification remained the least common, accounting for 4% of cinema releases.
Of the 210 complaints submitted to the BBFC in 2025, 25 were for a ‘PG’ trailer for Paul Feig’s The Housemaid – a film classified as a ‘15’ – shown before screenings of Wicked: For Good, also classified as ‘PG’. BBFC’s annual report said it “is not involved in deciding which specific trailers are screened before a given film”.
The film that received the most complaints for its classification was Jay Roach’s The Roses, with 11 complaints. The film was classified as ‘15’, for strong sex references and language. Complaints related to strong language in the film, as well as concerns with its depiction of a woman’s food allergy, including a scene in which her husband withholds her EpiPen as she experiences an allergic reaction.
Complainants suggested the film made light of a serious condition that can potentially be lethal and that the depiction of the use of an EpiPen was incorrect. The BBFC said it does not require medical procedures in films to be portrayed accurately.
Of complaints made to the board not relating to a classification issue, Kangana Ranaut’s Hindi-language biographical drama Emergency once again made a notable appearance in 2025. The film is based on the story of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and received 115 complaints in 2024, before the BBFC had seen the film.
These complaints expressed concern that the film was historically inaccurate and therefore offensive to some members of the Sikh community. Under the BBFC’s classification guidelines, films depicting historical events are not required to be historically accurate. Therefore, when the film was viewed in 2025, the BBFC classified it as ‘15’ for strong, bloody violence and disturbing scenes.
Following the film’s classification, 19 further complaints were received. “Once again, these complaints did not relate to the BBFC age rating decision, but to the nature of the film itself,” said the BBFC’s report.
Ten complaints were made about Sony’s animated fantasy Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle from fans who were too young to see it owing to its ‘15’ classification. The BBFC said it could not be lower as “scenes of violence involve bladed weapons and depict slashing, stabbing, and dismemberment, accompanied by spurts of blood”.
Similarly, nine complaints were about Universal’s Black Phone 2 by fans of the ‘15’-rated predecessor who were too young to see the ‘18’-rated sequel. The BBFC defended its decision, owing to “graphic scenes of child murder”.
Disney’s Thunderbolts*, a ‘12A’, received five complaints highlighting “blasphemous” language, owing to the use of terms like ‘God’ or ‘Jesus Christ’ and the film’s treatment of mental health issues. The BBFC found that none of these incidents was outside of what is standard for a ‘12A’.
Netflix’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery received five complaints relating to violence and scenes of smoking in the film. Again, the BBFC found these scenes to be acceptable in the ‘12A’ bracket.
Streaming partnerships
Further developments in 2025 saw the BBFC sign a major agreement with Warner Bros Discovery to support the UK launch of streaming service HBO Max in March 2026. For the first time, the BBFC used a bespoke artificial intelligence (AI) tool to ensure 100% coverage of BBFC age ratings and content advice for launch in the space of six months, a process the BBFC said would have taken around 1,570 working days for a compliance officer.
Screen understands AI is not being used to replace the compliance team, but to streamline a lengthy process.
BBFC plans to further develop its use of AI, receiving just shy of £1m in October 2025 from the UK government’s Regulators’ Pioneer Fund to support the development of Mira, a platform to enable enhanced classification and regulation of online content, targeting VoD and streamer services.
After a 12-month pilot, Amazon Prime Video transitioned to a self-rating partnership, in which Prime Video generates BBFC age ratings and content advice in-house, fully aligned with the BBFC’s guidelines. As with Netflix, the BBFC audits Prime Video’s age rating decisions.
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