Barbie has received a 12A rating in the UK for some surprising reasons.
The film, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, sees the titular blonde doll escape her pink utopia for the real world.
Considering Barbie's family friendly reputation, you might be thinking a movie all about the doll would be a safe PG, then. But, it turns out that there are some shenanigans afoot that have bumped up the rating. Per the British Board of Film Classification, Barbie has been rated 12A for "moderate innuendo," "brief sexual harassment," and "implied strong language."
The site also goes into more detail, revealing there are "comic fight scenes," "infrequent scenes of mild threat" which "include a car chase," "bleeped strong language," "verbal references to death and mental health," and "references" to "patriarchal attitudes about women's roles in society." There is also a scene where "a child melts a doll's hair using a lighter," which the BBFC lists under the content advice category "dangerous behavior."
That all sounds very dramatic – and we're hoping Barbie escapes from the hair-melting unscathed.
Robbie and director Greta Gerwig have also weighed in on the Barbie vs. Oppenheimer war – and they're throwing their support behind summer blockbuster season, posing with tickets to Oppenheimer, Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
It also looks like Barbie won't be the last toy related movie on the way, either, with Mattel said to be working on a whopping 45 movies.
Barbie arrives this July 21. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming major movie release dates for everything else 2023 has in store.
