As a BBFC Compliance Officer, you have to be very observant when watching all content. Of course they’re always looking for the obvious things, but did you know even a small message in the background of a film could affect the age rating?
When it comes to films and TV, Easter eggs aren't chocolate, but are hidden messages, clues or jokes you might miss if you blink! Just in time for Easter, we’ve asked our Compliance Officers for the best Easter eggs they’ve noticed in films over the years, from U all the way to 18.
Up
mild threat
An elderly man ties balloons to his house in an attempt to reach the Paradise Falls in South America. Scenes of mild threat and action are brief and unlikely to upset even very young children.
In this emotional children’s film Carl displays a subtle hint prior to taking off on his trip when he takes down his mailbox from his front garden the night before.
Violence
A man is hit over the head with a cane and a dog bites a bird's leg, causing it to limp.
Threat and horror
There is occasional threat, including a pack of dogs chasing and snapping their teeth at the heroes. A villain sets fire to a house.
Injury detail
A boy falls and is taken away in an ambulance. Afterwards, he has a cast on his arm.
Alcohol and tobacco
Adult characters drink alcohol.
Toy Story 3
mild violence and scary scenes
Toy Story 3 is an animated adventure about a group of toys who are mistakenly donated to a day-care centre.
There are lots of famous characters hidden in the Toy Story films. In Toy Story 3 look out for other Pixar characters in toy form, including Boo and Mike from Monsters, Inc. and a wooden Lightning McQueen toy. It’s not just Pixar though, Studio Ghibli’s Totoro makes an appearance as one of Bonnie’s plush toys.
Violence
Mild violence includes sight of a character swinging chainsticks on top of a moving train and knocking another character off the train, although the sequence is revealed to be part of a fantasy and is so nobody is harmed. In a comic sequence, a toy monkey hits a character repeatedly with a pair of cymbals attached to its hands.
Threat and horror
Infrequent scary scenes include an extended sequence in which a number of characters are in danger of being incinerated at a landfill site, although they are rescued before any harm is done.
Language
Infrequent mild bad language includes 'butt', 'moron', 'heck', and a play on the syllable 'ass' in 'ascot', in reference to a character's tie.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse
moderate fantasy violence, mild threat, injury detail, innuendo
Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse is an animated fantasy action film in which Spider-man crosses parallel dimensions and teams up with other spider heroes.
A billboard in Times Square shows a poster for From Dusk Till Shaun, a sequel Simon Pegg wrote for the zombie classic Shaun of the Dead about Shaun and Ed fighting vampires.
Violence
There are scenes in which heroes and villains headbutt and punch one another; however these are infrequent, undetailed and within a fantasy context.
Threat and horror
An intimidating masked villain with a metal fist pursues the hero; however, these scenes of mild threat are well balanced with more comic moments.
Language
There is mild bad language ('piss').
Sex
There are references to a teenager hitting puberty, and a scene in which his uncle tries to advise him how to speak to girls.
Injury detail
A man has a black eye, and a villain has a bloody nose which is shown briefly.
Frozen
mild threat
A young princess embarks on a quest to find her sister to break the spell that is keeping their kingdom in eternal winter. Some scenes of mild threat and danger might be too scary and intense for very young children.
During Elsa’s coronation in the movie, viewers can see the familiar faces of Rapunzel and Eugene from the movie Tangled in the wave of attendees.
Violence
There is some very mild violence, including an evil character being punched and some comic slapstick.
Threat and horror
Characters become involved in adventures which place them in danger, for example being chased by a pack of wolves and being threatened by a giant snow ogre which flings soldiers around. However, the mild threat is balanced by comic moments and a focus on bravery and resourcefulness.
Language
There are infrequent uses of 'butt'.
Rude humour
There is some very mild rude humour, such as a reference to picking your nose and eating it.
Shazam!
moderate violence, threat, horror, innuendo, bleeped strong language
Shazam! is a fantasy action adventure in which a fourteen-year-old boy gains the power to transform into an adult superhero every time he says 'Shazam'.
When a young Billy Batson gets in trouble with the law after robbing a pawn shop, and the cops enter the building, the Annabelle doll can be seen in the bottom left corner. This is because Director David Sandberg previously directed the second Annabelle movie.
Violence
Stylised fight scenes include kicks and punches, and fights involving fantastical powers.
Threat and horror
Scenes of horror include statues of creatures with glowing red eyes coming to life to menace humans. It is implied that a creature eats a man's head, but no detail is shown. There are also scenes of gun threat and a scene in which the hero saves people from a bus dangling off a bridge.
Language
There are bleeped uses of strong language ('f**k'), as well as full use of milder terms including 'shit', 'screw', 'dick' and 'crap'. There is also use of the rude middle finger gesture.
Sex
A teenager enters a strip club when he is diguised as an adult man. While no nudity is shown, another boy asks him if he saw any 'boobies or nipples'. There is also some mild comic innuendo about a wizard's magic staff.
Drugs
There is a brief reference to all the criminals being "on drugs or asleep by now".
Injury detail
A little blood is seen in the aftermath of violence and in the aftermath of a car accident.
Theme
There is a scene in which two bullies repeatedly kick a disabled teenager, but the impacts are not clearly shown and their behaviour is not condoned.
Alcohol and tobacco
Teenage characters try beer but spit it out.
Ready Player One
moderate violence, horror, infrequent strong language
A gamer and his friends look for secrets hidden in a virtual world to prevent a sinister company from taking control of the technology. Scenes inspired by adult horror films may disturb younger viewers.
This film is packed with film references for the film fanatics from The Shining to Back to the Future and The Iron Giant.
Violence
Most of the violence is between players in a virtual reality world where wounds are fantastical and participants cannot be seriously harmed. There are battle sequences, stabbings, shootings and martial arts style combat. In the real world, there is hand-to-hand violence, without sight of injury. A man punches the face of his girlfriend's teenage son.
Threat and horror
In the safety of the virtual reality world, the friends encounter characters and settings from real world horror films. They enter a simulation of THE SHINING where they are threatened by ghosts, zombies and gigantic axes and where a player is swept away on a torrent of blood. Freddy Krueger and a Chucky doll, armed with a knife, both fight in battle sequences. Players are chased by King Kong and a T-Rex.
Language
There is infrequent strong language ('f**k'), together with milder terms such as 'pissing', 'shit', 'balls', 'dickweed', 'damn', 'brokeass', 'goddam', 'hell', 'God', 'asshole', 'pissed', 'badass' and 'douchebag'.
Sex
There are some mild sex references. A villain jokes about the 'hos' of Father Christmas and a player rubs her hands over another's touch-sensitive body suit.
Injury detail
When characters are injured, inside the virtual world, coins appear rather than blood. There is sight of blood pouring out of a lift in a scene reconstructed from THE SHINING.
Nudity
There is implied nudity when a woman rises from a bath but actual nudity is carefully concealed.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
moderate violence, threat, horror
Raiders Of The Lost Ark is an action adventure in which an archaeologist embarks on a quest to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can harness its power.
This film includes references to George Lucas and Harrison Ford’s other work on Star Wars – when Indy first discovers the Ark of the Covenant, R2 D2 and C3PO can be seen as hieroglyphs on the wall. This detail is even included on the LEGO set.
In one scene ghosts appear and fly among the assembled crowd of people before a mystical power erupts, killing the onlookers and causing some people's faces to melt or explode. There is close up detail of facial flesh, eyes and muscle liquifying and running off to reveal the skull underneath. Other scenes of threat include a hot poker being held close to a woman's face as part of an interrogation, and a scene in which a woman finds herself surrounded by desiccated corpses.
Violence
There are frequent scenes of moderate violence, including fistfights, gunfights, and chases. There is occasional sight of blood spurts and bloody aftermath detail, including a sequence in which it is implied that a man is struck by an aeroplane propeller, and a scene in which a man has been impaled on a wall by an archaic boobytrap.
Language
Mild bad language includes 'son of a bitch', 'bastard', 'shit' and the German term 'scheiße'. A male villain surreptitiously watches a female captive’s bare back in a mirror while she changes her clothes, and there are brief, non-graphic references to selling women into slavery.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
moderate sex and one use of strong language
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical comedy in which a couple accidentally stumble upon the strange residence of Dr-Frank-N-Furter after their car breaks down in a remote area.
This film has lots of Easter eggs in it… as the cast and crew were having an Easter egg hunt while filming! See if you can spot them.
Violence
It is implied a man is killed with a pick axe, someone is fed to others, and there is brief sight of gory remains. However, these all occur in a heightened, darkly comic manner.
Language
There is infrequent use of strong language ('f**k') and milder terms including 'tits', 'shit', 'hell', 'God' and 'damn'.
Sex
References are made to sex, including a passing reference to porn. Sequences imply couples are having sex and a man is receiving fellatio.
Drugs
There are infrequent drug references.
Nudity
Brief breast nudity occurs as a woman dances.
The Birds
Contains moderate threat and horror
The Birds is Alfred Hitchcock's famous 1963 horror film about a small Californian community plagued by an attack of aggressive birds.
Known as the king of cameos, Alfred Hitchcock makes a small appearance in The Birds. He can be seen leaving a pet shop with his two dogs.
Threat and horror
The film contains several sequences in which people are attacked by swooping birds, including an attack on a group of terrified school children. While the infliction of injuries is not normally shown, there is some sight of the aftermath of attacks, including a sequence of shots showing a dead man whose eyes have been pecked out. We also see flames engulf a driver after he inadvertently sets fire to a petrol spillage. Other bodies are shown as a result of the attacks.
The film shows a number of characters smoking as was the norm for the era.
The Evil Dead
strong bloody violence, scene of sexual violence
The Evil Dead is a US horror film, from 1982, in which a group of young people inadvertently summon ancient demons.
You might recognise Sam Raimi’s car from The Evil Dead in his other films. For example, it's Uncle Ben's car in his first Spider-Man movie and appears in the horror film Drag Me To Hell. Can you think of any more of his films that the car appears in?
Violence
There are bloody scenes in which characters are stabbed with pencils and knives. There are scenes of decapitation and eye gouging. A scene of sexual violence shows a woman being raped by tree.
