British movies that have been censored for more commercially friendly classifications.
The Krays
Directed by Peter Medak / 1990 / UK / IMDb
A 116-minute 35mm print of THE KRAYS received an R (Occasional graphic violence) in July and August 1990.
The violence was found to be:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
In September, a 115-minute censored version dropped it to M (Occasional coarse language, Violence).
Violence and language were described as:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Justified
Palace Entertainment Corporation released the modified print theatrically.
VHS & DVD
In early 1991, Palace Entertainment issued an M-rated rental VHS featuring a ‘blood pack’ on the cover.
An second VHS appeared in early 1993, with Palace promoting it as the ‘R Version never released before’.
Umbrella Entertainment issued an R-rated DVD in April 2012.
Possible cuts
Matt reports
The M-rated print may have trimmed some of these scenes.
33:30 – Sword attack in the snooker hall.
43:30 – The ‘Chelsea Smile’ where Ronnie (Gary Kemp) slowly cuts a man’s mouth.
108:00 – The stabbing of Jack the Hat (Tom Bell).
In April 1990, the British Board of Film Classification awarded THE KRAYS an 18 certificate after modifications to the ‘Chelsea smile’ scene. For unknown reasons, that ran 119:20 compared to Palace’s 116-minute R-rating.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Directed by John Madden / 2011 / UK – USA / IMDb
On 25 November 2011, a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) of THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL received an M (Infrequent coarse language).
Five days later, a censored version dropped it to PG (Mild themes, sexual references and coarse language). Both ran 123-minutes.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Distributors released the modified print theatrically in March 2012.
PG language cut
Tom S. reports
102:45 – Sonny (Dev Patel) confronts Jay (Sid Makkar) and says to him, ‘So fuck off out of my way’.
From memory, the PG cinema version tried to cut out ‘fuck off’, which made it sound weird and clipped.
DVD & Blu-ray
In April 2012, a 126-minute DVD and a 136-minute Blu-ray received PG (Mild themes, sexual references and coarse language) ratings.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released both discs in September.
Tom S. reports
The PG-rating of the DVD indicates it should be censored, but it is actually uncut. Presumably, the same applies to the Blu-ray.
My Cousin Rachel
Directed by Roger Michell / 2017 / UK – USA / IMDb
A 105-minute precut Digital Cinema Package (DCP) of MY COUSIN RACHEL passed with an M (Occasional coarse language) in May 2017.
The classification matrix described,
Moderate impact: language
Mild impact: themes, violence
Very mild impact: nudity, sex
None: drug use
It was followed on 5 June by another 105-minute DCP but lowered to PG (Mild themes, violence and occasional coarse language). The classification matrix noted the language as ‘mild impact’ rather than ‘moderate impact’.
Three days later, Twentieth Century Fox Film Distributors opened the censored version theatrically.
Uncut at home
In July, a 254-minute ‘Home Entertainment Version’ received an M (Sex scene and coarse language).
The classification matrix described,
Moderate impact: language, sex
Mild impact: themes, violence
Very mild impact: nudity
The sex went from ‘very mild impact’ to ‘moderate impact’ with the addition of ‘sex scene’ to the consumer advice. The 106:08 running time also indicates the first submission was precut.
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment released the uncut DVD and Blu-ray in October 2017.
What was censored?
Aiming for a PG-rating, Twentieth Century Fox censored sex from the first submission. Their failure to remove the word ‘fucking resulted in a second submission.
The language cut would have modified this line.
43:41 – Seecombe (Tim Barlow) says, ‘Not like that, you fucking prick-wit!’.
The sex would have trimmed this very mild 00:20 sequence.
71:50 – Phillip (Sam Claflin) thrusts on top of Rachel (Rachel Weisz) as they have sex in the woods.
King of Thieves
Directed by James Marsh / 2018 / UK / IMDb
In October 2018, a precut 108-minute Digital Cinema Package (DCP) of KING OF THIEVES passed with an M (Coarse language) rating.
The classification matrix described,
Moderate impact: language
Mild impact: themes, violence, nudity, sex
Very mild: drug use
StudioCanal, the applicant, released it theatrically in February 2019.
Uncut physical media
In April 2019, a 126-minute ‘Home Entertainment Release’ DVD received an MA15+ (Strong coarse language) rating.
The classification matrix increased the language from ‘moderate impact’ to ‘strong impact’.
StudioCanal issued the uncut DVD and Blu-ray in June.
Censored Netflix & Foxtel
In December, KING OF THIEVES became available on Netflix Australia and Foxtel.
Both versions were the M-rated version.
Censored language
Tom S. reports
The M-rated version redubs all five uses of ‘cunt’ with words such as ‘nonce’, ‘clown’ and ‘tart’.
44:30 – Brian (Michael Caine) yells at Billy the Fish (Michael Gambon), ‘You fat cunt!’.
M-rated version overdubs it with ‘clown’. This shot is in close-up and is distracting as his mouth is obviously not saying ‘clown’. The 2019 Netflix and Foxtel versions are the same, but the subtitles read ‘You fat klutz’.
49:45 – Terry (Jim Broadbent) is ribbing Basil (Charlie Cox) on his tardiness and says, ‘What sort of time d’you call this, you cunt?’.
M-rated version overdubs it with ‘tart’.
71:45 – Danny (Ray Winstone) admonishes Kenny (Tom Courtney) by saying, ‘He’s a thick, wombat-headed old cunt’.
M-rated version overdubs it with ‘nonce’. Again, his mouth is saying ‘cunt’.
91:45 – Danny is watching Kenny and says, ‘What a soppy old cunt’.
The M-rated version overdubs it with ‘clown’.
94:15 – Danny calls Kenny a ‘Fucking old cunt’.
M-rated version overdubs it with ‘nonce’. The 2019 Netflix and Foxtel versions are the same. Perhaps because ‘nonce’ is nearly inaudible, the subtitles still use the uncut line.
The Aftermath
Directed by James Kent / 2019 / UK – Germany – USA / IMDb
On 11 March 2019, a 108-minute Digital Cinema Package (DCP) of THE AFTERMATH passed with an MA15+ (Strong sex scenes).
The classification matrix described,
Strong impact: Sex
Moderate impact: themes, violence, language, nudity
None: drug use
It was followed on 26 March by another 108-minute DCP but lowered to M (Mature themes, violence, sex scenes and coarse language). The classification matrix noted the sex as ‘moderate impact’ rather than ‘strong impact’.
Twentieth Century Fox Film Distributors released the censored version theatrically on 11 April.
What sex was censored?
The MA15+ to M modified two scenes.
Tom S. reports
Sex scene No. 1 at 48:00
The uncut footage plays markedly differently from the M-rated version and is the most heavily edited of the two.
Before (M-rated) – Rachael (Kiera Knightley) is attending to a gash on Stephen’s (Alexander Skarsgard) head, sexual tension overcomes them, and they start making out. He lifts her onto the living room table, where they make out for a bit longer until he starts to reach for his belt. The scene cuts as he unfastens it.
Censored by 00:30 approx. – Stephen inserts himself between her legs. They thrust violently until the lights of Lewis’ (Jason Clarke) vehicle come through the window. They freeze before he starts thrusting again. She finally pushes him off, and they compose themselves for the arrival of Lewis. It is a strong scene, but I do not understand what would bring it to an MA15+. There is no nudity, it is somewhat dimly lit and is very quick and justified by the story context. I have certainly seen worse in M-rated movies.
After (M-rated) – Lewis walks in through the front door and finds them sitting as if nothing had happened. The cuts caused continuity errors in the placement of Rachael and Stephen in the room and a noticeable jump in the soundtrack.
Sex scene No. 2 at 66:00
Rachael and Stephen start making out in the attic bedroom. Her backside and breasts are visible as he undresses her and lays her on the bed. All is present in the M-rated version.
He then starts kissing down her body. A shot of him kissing her stomach whilst cupping her breasts was zoomed in the M-rated version to remove his hands on her breasts.
The following sequence of him kissing back up her body to her breasts was shortened to remove the next shot where he kisses her breasts for about 00:05. It resumes on her facial expression and him at the bottom of the frame, kissing her breasts (which are out of shot) and moving up to her neck. The M version censored it well enough that it did not seem intrusive.
The next shot of his back was slowed down. It ran approximately 00:15 compared to a mere 00:05 in the uncut version. The longer running time helped mask the music jumping during the next cut, a close-up side-view of him thrusting.
Uncut DVD & Blu-ray
In May, a 250-minute ‘International Version’ received an MA15+ (Strong sex scenes). The classification matrix was the same as the first submission.
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment released the uncut DVD and Blu-ray in July.
Dirty Games
Directed by Jack Ayers / 2022 / UK / IMDb
In January 2024, an 87-minute version of DIRTY GAMES received an R18+ (High impact sex scenes).
The submission of a modified 79-minute ‘TV Edit’ reduced it to an MA15+ (Strong sex scenes) in March 2026.
A comparison between the classification matrices reveals the following:
Themes, Violence & Language: Moderate impact (R18+ & MA15+)
Drug use: None (R18+ & MA15+)
Nudity: Moderate impact (R18+) – Mild impact (MA15+)
Sex: High impact (R18+) – Strong impact (MA15+)
The ‘More information about the content of this film’ indicate that censorship focused on nudity and sex scenes.
Nudity
R18+ – ‘… sexualised breast and buttocks nudity’.’
MA15+ – ‘… brief partial breast and buttock nudity.’
Sex
R18+ – ‘…frequent sexualised imagery, sexual references…frequent implicit sex scenes, including implicit BDSM.’
MA15+ – ‘…implicit sex scenes, sexualised imagery and sexual references…brief visual references to BDSM.’
Left Films, the applicant, did not release either on DVD or Blu-ray. Both submissions were classified for online and on-demand platforms.
Christmas Party
Directed by Francesco Gabriele / 2023 / UK / IMDb
In December 2023, an 80-minute version of CHRISTMAS PARTY received an R18+ (High impact sex scenes and nudity).
The submission of a modified 144-minute version reduced it to an M (Sexual themes and coarse language) in October 2025.
A comparison between the classification matrices shows,
Nudity: High impact (R18+) – None (M)
Sex: High impact (R18+) – Moderate impact (M)
Themes: Strong impact (R18+) – Moderate impact (M)
Language: Moderate impact (R18+ & M)
Violence & Drug use: None (R18+ & M)
The ‘More information about the content of this film’ indicates censorship of nudity, sex, and possibly, themes.
Nudity
R18+ – ‘…contains sexualised breast and buttock nudity.’
M – None.
Sex
R18+ -‘…includes realistic depictions of sexual activity including group sex, bondage, sex toys and voyeurism.’
M – ‘…includes verbal sexual references and visual references to sexual activity including bondage and sex toys.’
Themes
R18+ & M – ‘… contain sexual awakening, relationships and references to BDSM, including scenes featuring a sex club’.
M only – ‘…contains themes related to the non-consensual distribution of sexual videos.’
Left Films, the applicant, did not release either on DVD or Blu-ray. Both submissions were classified for online and on-demand platforms.
The 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards
Directed by Chris Power / 2026 / UK / IMDb
On 23 February 2026, a 100-minute version of THE 2026 EE BAFTA FILM AWARDS – LIVE received an M (Coarse language).
It was downgraded to PG (Mild themes) on 30 March following the submission of a 120-minute modified version. The M-rated language had been described as ‘Moderate impact’ but was now ‘Very mild impact’.
The modifications clearly removed John Davidson’s racist language directed toward Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo. His other outbursts, such as ‘shut the fuck up’ would also have been removed.
In both cases, Warner Bros. Discovery was the applicant.