WEEKEND (2011)

WEEKEND is a drama about two men who meet in a club and form a relationship over the course of a weekend, before one of them moves abroad. It was classified '18' for strong sex, sex references and hard drug use.

The BBFC's Guidelines at '15' state 'Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail'. There are a number of sex scenes that lack strong detail and which would have been allowable at '15'. However, there is one sex scene which includes sight of a man apparently masturbating his partner, after which we see the man lying on his back with liquid resembling semen on his stomach. The level of detail in this scene is too strong for '15' and more appropriately classified at '18'.

There are also some strong verbal sex references, including one man recalling having sex with a married man: "I wasn't sure I could get a hard-on, he wanted me to suck his cock, get me to cum in his mouth". This graphic reference, and other strong verbal references of a similar nature, exceed the terms of the Guidelines at '15' which state 'There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable'. The strong sex references are therefore more appropriately classified at '18'.

There are several scenes of 'lifestyle' drug use, many of which show people smoking marijuana joints. There are also some scenes in which men snort cocaine and a scene in which men blow cocaine into each other's mouths. Although the men finally acknowledge that they have taken too many drugs, the frequency of the activity and the unusual nature of the cocaine use mean the drug use is more appropriately classified at '18'. However, the film as a whole does not promote or encourage drug misuse.

WEEKEND also contains frequent strong language and two undirected and nonaggressive uses of very strong language, as two men talk to each other.