Warner Bros’ The Batman and controversial historical drama The Lady Of Heaven topped the list of complaints received by ratings body the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) in 2022, according to the organisation’s annual report.
The DC superhero blockbuster starring Robert Pattinson received 22 complaints in total for its 15 rating. The organisation notes that the majority came prior to the film’s release in March 2022 or from children under the age of 15 who felt the rating was too restrictive.
Justifying the rating, the BBFC said: “The tone is consistently dark, and the film depicts its world as less fantastical than previous big-screen iterations of the Batman character.”
The organisation recorded a total of 84 complaints about its classifications last year, which is down on the 109 it received in 2021 where Squid Game and Suicide Squad were among most complained about titles.
Controversial title
The BBFC received 1,573 complaints about The Lady Of Heaven, a drama about the daughter of the prophet Muhammad. The complaints were not related to the BBFC’s classification (it was rated 15) and so not included in the total mentioned above, but instead reflected some people’s wider objections ”that the film was blasphemous and historically inaccurate.”
Cineworld cancelled all screenings of the film back in June 2022 after protests at some of its sites, while the controversial drama was also banned in Morocco.
The BBFC argued that filmmakers have the right to “explore historical or controversial themes and events” and stands by its rating which was given owing to the strong bloody violence, gory images and threat.
Indian drama The Kashmir Files also received 19 complaints relating to the accuracy of its storytelling, which surrounds the Kashmiri Pandit community in India during 1990, as well as claims of islamophobia. The BBFC reiterated its stance: ”Our guidelines do not require that depictions of real-life events be accurate in order for us to classify a film and this is not a factor that we generally consider.”
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness received nine complaints, with concerns raised over the horror elements of the 12A-rated film, while Minions: The Rise Of Gru received six complaints from people who felt the U rating was too low for the level of violence depicted in the animation.
Release boost
The report also revealed that the BBFC classified 1,057 feature films for cinema release in 2022, well up on the 659 titles classified in 2021 and 619 in 2020, both of which were impacted by the pandemic.
The 2022 number is much closer to the 2019 total of 1,103. “It was heartening to see the sector bouncing back in 2022,” said the report.
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