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] unauthorized edit... and demand they cease 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 the US and Australia in July, has received largely positive reviews from critics, earning a 90% freshness score on film review site Rotten Tomatoes.
However, as soon as the advance screenings began in China this month, viewers noticed that some sex and nudity scenes had been modified after screenshots showed scenes from the original version circulated online.
In one scene featuring the male lead in the shower, observers noted that the Chinese version had added steam to obscure the lead's naked body.
Most complaints, however, centered around an image with a gay couple that had been digitally altered, replacing a man's face with a woman's and removing many references to the same-sex relationship throughout the film.
Such changes are commonplace in China, where same-sex marriage isn't recognized and LGBTQ topics remain largely taboo, but this instance of AI-generated alterations struck a particular nerve.
This is no longer just a matter of cuts — it's a matter of distortion and misrepresentation, stated 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, mentioned another.
On Wednesday, the film's global distributor, Neon, spoke out against the edits, criticizing the film's Chinese distributor, Hishow, who has yet to comment on the matter.
Neon does not approve of Hishow's unauthorized edit of the film and have demanded they cease distributing this altered version, the company stated in a message shared with US news outlets Deadline and TheWrap.
The BBC has reached out to Neon for further comments.
This isn’t the first time China has employed AI to censor sexual content. In the Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, a nude scene with Florence Pugh was altered using AI-generated content to fit local censorship laws.
China has also appeared to be cracking down on same-sex content more broadly, as highlighted by the recent arrests of at least 30 writers of gay erotic fiction since February, most of whom are women in their 20s.
