To urge parents not to take their underage children to see the FNAF movie?

[Ahsoka2001]

Today it was announced that the new "Five Nights at Freddy's Movie" has been classified 15 by the BBFC for "strong threat, violence" - https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/five-nights-at-freddys-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdeznzy4

I know there's a large fanbase for the FNAF franchise aged 10-14. I'm sorry that they won't be able to see the highly-anticipated movie version on the big screen. But at the same time - as someone who works in a cinema - reading this news has me dreading the release of this film.

A 15 certificate means that NOBODY who has not reached their 15th birthday is allowed into the auditorium. This is enforced by UK law and applies even if the parent accompanies their child. No one underage being in the screen is a condition of the cinema operating. It's just like alcohol - sell alcohol to anyone underage, the venue loses its license and won't be able to remain in operation.

So, if I turn away your under-15 from the FNAF film, I am just following the law. Underage patrons being let into the screen could mean not only legal action against the cinema, but legal action against me - I could also potentially lose my job.

Many people think, "It's not like it's alcohol, it's just a film." No. It's treated almost just as badly as alcohol and other age restricted products. Please be kind to cinema workers who have no choice but to turn away underage customers. It's a shame I have to say this but please don't become aggressive or verbally abusive (it's happened to my colleagues before). I'm sure this isn't the vast majority of people but it's one of the prime sources of customer aggression in the exhibition sector.

Oh - and if your child genuinely is 15 or over, please make sure they bring valid photo ID :) If you don't want them taking valuable documents like passports out then a clear photo of these should suffice. The last thing we want to do is turn away people who ARE within the law but if we do have to...we have no choice and it's absolutely nothing personal.

Roblox allows people to create their own games in roblox and people do base games on fnaf

I would make sure you are sure before high handedly telling people to go educate themselves.

There is loads of shit that goes on in roblox- I think fnaf would be the tip of the iceberg if you had a look at roblox in general - I would he cautious about having kids on roblox without knowing what they were doing and who they are interacting with

I think they were worried that if fnaf is available on roblox then are there other games that are similarly innocuous but with dark undertones that they don't know about.

And I would say that yes, lots of shit is on roblox and there are predators on there also.

I think you are unnecessarily unpleasant to what was quite a normal question- lots of parents and grandparents do not realise that some of these games would be problematic.

Crikey you are on one!

I'm trying to decide if it's an adult who's been drunk posting or a 12 year old really pissed off that they can't see the film.

Just cos your kid is allowed, doesn't mean your kid SHOULD be allowed....

As long as you don't bring him to the cinema to watch it then it's not my place to comment on what you let your child watch. What do you mean "shows how much you know"?

Remember everyone, it’s half term…

Ah of course, explains a lot 🙄

for you maybe

Oh FFS, I was giving a reason why there might be kids dicking around/trolling on MN at the moment. Does the fact that not every single council or school is on holiday at the moment negate that?

At the end of the day, let parents be the decision makers, I know my own child more than anyone else... Oh and FYI, in Northern Ireland it's been given a 15a certificate... Go figure.

Parents are free to make their own decisions if it’s in their private homes. I was talking only about the cinema, where it’s against the law for me to allow any under 15s in even if their parents accompany them or say it’s okay. I could lose my job over this.

And did you read the whole thread? I mentioned it being a 15A in Ireland a while back, so no need for the FYI.

We saw it today and felt it was very tame. A similar jumpy level to Goosebumps but with few dead bodies and some blood. Some teens in the screening were pissing around obviously bored.

There needs to be a 12 certificate really without the 'A' as ages 12+ would be absolutely fine with this film.

I think what a lot of parents don’t realise is that FNAF isn’t some recent thing that’s only come out in the last few years - the first game came out in 2014, when I was a teenager, and it was huge online with the YouTubers I followed (Markiplier/JackSepticEye) so even though I didn’t play it myself, it was a series I became very familiar with through watching their commentaries/playthroughs and reading theories online. I’m now in my mid-20s and while I don’t play the games myself (my nervous system could NEVER deal with that), I still enjoy watching playthroughs and lore videos. What I’m trying to say is that, like me, a lot of the people who were fans back in 2014 are grown ups now, and they’re part of the target audience for the new film - FNAF has never been and never should be for kids. As for the saying that selling teddies = for kids, that’s not necessarily true; I’m 25 and own so many stuffed toys, there are adults out there who want to collect these things or who just want one for whatever reason etc.

I worked in a primary school about two years ago and one of the kids in Year 4 had a FNAF backpack which shocked me but tbh I don’t know if parents are a) aware of what the bear/funny animals on the bags/merch actually mean/are, or b) aware of what exactly their kids are watching online. While yes, children can be exposed to these things via friends, I think parents need to be more aware of what exactly their child is looking at and doing on their devices as well and not just letting them online completely unsupervised.

Having said all of this, I saw the film on Wednesday morning at an early screening and I don’t think it was a “15” tbh but I still wouldn’t let a child watch it. I feel like the 15 rating was for the implied deaths and the swearing more than anything truly scary. There were a few jumpscares but for the most part it was super tame, which I suppose shouldn’t be a huge surprise as the games don’t show anything super gory either, it’s just mentioned/implied…but still, if the swearing and general underlying themes were cut then it might have been a 12A instead.

@Ahsoka2001 - could I just ask you something? If you turn someone away from this film because they don't have any ID, but there's nothing else they want to watch, are they entitled to a refund? My DD is going tomorrow, but she doesn't have any ID. She's booked a premier seat, so would be gutted to lose £16. There's nothing else on at the same time except Trolls, which she definitely doesn't want to watch! Thanks so much.

@Limpba
The toys in Smyths Toys Superstores fir one thing!

The sheer amount of snowflakery and pant wetting on this thread is astounding.

In what sense? Are you disputing my original OP or is this more the replies?

At Cineworld I know they rarely do refunds in-venue but they'll swap your ticket to a U, PG or 12A film free of charge. If you really want a refund your best bet with Cineworld is to contact customer service.

At ODEON I think you'll get a refund. I recently saw two 14 year olds turned away from a showing of the South Park re-release and the staff said they could refund the ticket cost.

Vue, CURZON and Everyman I'm not sure.

The replies , the OP was quite reasonable. It's the holier than thou attitude on here. I'll wager they let thier kids do whatever on the internet and especially YouTube.