An Australian film that was digitally altered to change a same-sex couple to a heterosexual one has drawn backlash from moviegoers in China.
Together, a horror film starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, was shown in selected Chinese cinemas in advance screenings on 12 September. Cinemagoers later realised some scenes had been modified after screenshots showing the original scenes went viral online.
The film was due to be publicly released on 19 September – but as of Thursday has yet to be aired in cinemas.
The film’s global distributor, Neon, later condemned the edit, saying they did not “approve of [this] unauthorised edit… and demand they ceased distribution”, according to reports.
The supernatural body horror film, written and directed by Australian Michael Shanks, follows a couple who move to the countryside and find themselves encountering a mysterious force that impacts their bodies, lives and relationship.
The film, which first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and released in US and Australia in July, has received largely positive reviews from critics, earning a 90% freshness score on film review site Rotten Tomatoes.
But as soon as the advance screenings began in China this month, viewers noticed that some sex and nudity scenes had been modified after screenshots showing scenes from the original version circulated online.
In one scene which pictured the male lead in the shower, they noticed that the Chinese version had added steam to obscure the lead’s nude body.
Most complaints, however, were about an image featuring a gay couple which had been digitally altered, with a man’s face replaced by a woman’s. Several references to the same-sex relationship in the film were also removed.
It’s not uncommon for China – where same-sex marriage isn’t recognised and LGBT topics remain largely taboo – to censor LGBT content. But this time, the use of what appeared to be AI-generated alterations struck a nerve.
“This is no longer just a matter of cuts – it’s a matter of distortion and misrepresentation,” reads one post on popular Chinese film critic platform Douban, where the movie has a rating of 6.9 out of 10.
“Not only did they alter the plot, but they also disrespected the actor’s sexual orientation. It’s disgusting,” reads another.
On Wednesday, the film’s global distributor, Neon spoke out against the edits, criticising the film’s Chinese distributor, Hishow, which has yet to comment on the matter.
“Neon does not approve of Hishow’s unauthorised edit of the film and have demanded they cease distributing this altered version,” the company said in a statement sent to the BBC.
It’s not the first time China has used AI to alter sexual content. In Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, a nude scene featuring Florence Pugh was edited with an AI-generated black dress for Chinese cinemas.
China is also apparently cracking down on same-sex content. Since February, at least 30 writers of gay erotic fictions, nearly all of them women in their 20s, have been arrested across the country.
