There have been more complaints about movies in 2023 so far than in the last three years combined.
In the first nine months of 2023, IFCO – the Irish Film Classification Office – has received a total of 24 complaints from the public about movies shown in cinemas this year. That is more than the last three years combined, when IFCO received 10 in 2022, and a total of eight across 2021 and 2020 (although, admittedly, cinemas were closed a lot in those two years).
In a report by the Irish Mirror, in which they state that copies of the complaints received by IFCO were obtained under freedom of information laws, they list some of the movies that received one or two complaints each, such as A Haunting In Venice, M3GAN and Cocaine Bear.
One complaint was aimed towards sci-fi horror Infinity Pool, specifically in relation to a close-up of Alexander Skarsgard’s penis, in which the complainant stated the the movie was “trying to compete with what is available on the internet for the titillation and sexual arousal of 20-year-old boys”.
However, the movie that IFCO received the most complaints over more than any other, was the Tom Hanks comedy-drama A Man Called Otto. Released in Irish cinemas in January this year, IFCO certified the movie 12a, with the accompanying description: “Mature themes including death, bereavement and suicidal ideation. Depicts scenes of attempted suicide. Use of moderate bad language.”
Among the seven complaints against the movie was a letter from Mental Health Ireland, with the charity’s CEO stating: “We do not wish to return to a time where self-harm, suicide and mental health issues were taboo and not discussed, but we must all be mindful of the consequences of depicting self-harm in such a graphic manner.”
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