How can I get my 6ft, 14 year old son in to a fifteen certificated film at the cinema?

[MarxyBoy]

Some ideas others have come up-

Make him non-binary or disabled, people will not have the brass-neck to question his identity.

Slip the person a tenner.

Give him a fake beard a mask to put on?

If you decide to buy a ticket for Barbie and sneak him in, you need to make sure you find an actually empty seat
It's all allocated seats now

Well my 12 almost 13 year old got in to see Oppenheimer no problem with his 13 year old friend. They are both tall and mature looking though.

Absolutely just get a ticket to something else and then wander in to whatever you fancy. Our tickets are always checked downstairs but then all the screens are upstairs with no staff. And they are only ever a third full so lots of seats to choose from.

they are quite keen on gratuitous tits when you least expect them.

Favourite line of the night!

It's not petty, there are age ratings for a reason and cinemas have rules to follow.

I'm sure it was a joke but pretending to be disabled or non binary is in very poor taste.

This book 2 tickets.

One for the one you want to watch then another for a 12a at the same time.

And just go into the screen you want to watch

Probably not as far fetched as a suggestion as you are hoping for OP, but how about:

Tell him he's welcome to give it a try and see if they'll let him through without ID, but they might check, and they might turn him away, and missing out on a movie isn't the end of the world.

If it's Oppenheimer, it's looooong, quite boring in parts, has the kind of full frontal nudity and sex scenes that I wouldn't want to be sitting next to my teenage son for. Not worth the fuss IMO.

Fucks sake it's illegal for the cinema to let them in underage. Either wait till he's 15 and take ID or watch it at home. Why is everyone always so keen to risk other peoples jobs 🤷🏻‍♀️

Gan on, lie to get your kid in, get some poor fucker fined, fired and possibly a criminal charge because your want is more important than their livelihood. Might as well get him a beer while you're on.

Just take him to the cinema. No one's going to age-check him if he looks plausibly 15.

Check the screen number for the Oppenheimer showing beforehand. Buy a ticket for another movie staring around the same time and reroute into Oppenheimer (taking into account where the empty seats are).

No need to compromise cinema staff, but also gets round an arbitrary age restriction. In the majority of places around the world Oppenheimer can be seen at that age if accompanied by an adult.

The nudity is not full frontal, although you do see female breasts.

How to teach a child rules are made for a reason what awesome parenting!

To address a few suggestions;

It’s nudity and ‘active sex’.

Many screenings are sold out: you won’t get a seat if you ‘wander in’ with a ticket for another film.

Councils do check cinemas. They would get fined and could lose their licence for admitting under age. It isn’t a ‘guideline’.

Fair enough, it was so long and fucking boring I dozed off in parts and it's all a bit hazy

Took my 14 year old last week and despite warnings about checking ID on the tickets and in the cinema no-one checked. He's 3 weeks off his 15th birthday. The sex scenes are mild and infrequent. He saw more boobs on holiday this year!

Why don't you just wait till it comes out in video or online versions?

I'm amazed at the posters fussing about watching a sex scene with their DS. I mean, I wouldn't watch a movie that was exclusively this, but a small part of a longer film, no bother at all.

The age thing - I'd have no problem with a 14 yo watching a 15s movie. I've never had any issue with my children attending when younger than 15 - ID checks only happen here for 18s movies; occasionally for specific 16s movies that much younger kids are trying to go to.

Make him non-binary or disabled, people will not have the brass-neck to question his identity.

Even if intended as lighthearted, this is horrible.

Is it really bad parenting?

I agree that we should on the whole teach children to obey rules, and also why they are there in the first place.

But it's not bad parenting to teach them that sometimes you can use personal judgement.

It's not great parenting to tell them that rules must always be obeyed without question.

Being refused entry is arguably a good lesson for them about consequences too.

If taking your child to see Oppenheimer so they can learn a hugely important part of history is bad parenting then you really must be the very best of parents.

I found that once my daughter was taller than me no one ever questioned her age.

Of all the “rules are there for a reason” hills to die, this isn’t one I would think indicated poor parenting for not following. He’s 14, not 8.

Why is everyone always so keen to risk other peoples jobs 🤷🏻‍♀️

Because it doesn't affect them even though they're the ones being deceitful and intentionally breaking the law. As with most age restricted things, most of the concequences land on the venue and staff.
They get asked to leave and likely make a huge dramatic fuss about that, and some poor fucker gets punished for allowing it to happen.

That's why because it's all just a bit of a laugh and an opportunity to belittle someone else when you aren't the one facing the concequences.

It is also against the terms and conditions of your ticket to take your own food and drink onto the premises. A member of staff could quickly lose their job for allowing you in with stuff in your bag.

So I hope you don't do that either.

DS (15 in a few weeks) went to see Oppenheimer with his sister (18). He’s about 5’10”. I warned them that he might not be admitted, but it wasn’t an issue. 🤷

I was going to suggest this. If it's multi screen just buy tickets for another film that starts about the same time and once you're through the check point go to see the film you want. Obviously have to ensure the film you want isn't one that will be sold out.

To be fair my son has only ever been asked for id once (& he was actually 16 for a 15 film) and he was with me. It was a new member of staff (ass. Manager) who I think was being overly zealous. When I expressed my absolute amazement and that we'd never been asked before he did let us through with a little lecture about always bringing id. Have never been asked again.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/people-only-just-finding-out-29521174