Why Did Netflix Raise the Rating for "Moonlight" from M to MA15+ in Australia?

Not a great look, guys.

Something funny happened to Moonlight on the way to Netflix: it somehow got a stricter rating.

Back in 2016, Australia’s Classification Board gave the acclaimed queer coming of age tale an M rating for drug use, coarse language, sex and violence. According to their decision, it was considered to be of 'moderate impact' across its classifiable elements, except in the case of 'nudity' ('cos there was none). Seemed fair enough!

When the film was re-rated for its DVD and Blu-ray release in March of 2017—shortly after it earned Best Picture at the Academy Awards, following, ahem, some confusion—the M rating was upheld.

And then literally nothing happened in the world of Moonlight’s classification (and why would it?) until 31 May 2020, when the flick was given an upgraded MA15+ rating by the Netflix Classification Tool ahead of its arrival on the streaming service, as first discovered by the Twitter account Refused Classification.

The Netflix Classification Tool has increased MOONLIGHT (2016) from M to MA15+. pic.twitter.com/Dm70rPQH7v

— Ref Classification (@RefusedC) June 6, 2020

Suddenly, most of Moonlight’s classifiable elements were considered to have a 'strong impact', despite it being the exact same running time—and indeed, the exact same film—that debuted in cinemas and warranted an M rating only a few years earlier.

If this weren’t already an extremely cooked move, the decision coincided with both the global Black Lives Matter protests and Pride Month in the United States. This is, without a doubt, a bizarre and highly avoidable own goal.

Wait, what’s the big deal?

To understand why this is a whole thing, you need to understand the difference between the M and MA15+ ratings.

A movie that’s rated M can be legally accessed by children under the age of 15. However, any movie rated MA15+ is legally restricted to those who are 15 years or older. According to the Classification Board’s website, "Children under the age of 15 may not legally watch, buy or hire MA 15+ rated material unless they are in the company of a parent or adult guardian."

Sure, viewers under the age of 15 can easily access a MA15+ film on Netflix compared to the difficulties they’d encounter buying a ticket for an MA15+ film at the cinema. But in some households, the difference between M and MA15+ might be a dealbreaker for what’s allowed on family film night. And that’d mean fewer Australians could end up watching what is widely considered one of the best films of the century so far, even though the Australian Classification Board felt it was perfectly fine for viewers under the age of 15 to experience in 2016.

So, why’d they change the rating?

Well, they didn't!

As we’ve previously gone over, Netflix has been given special permission to use an automated classification tool (called the Netflix Classification Tool) to let them rate their films and TV shows before uploading them for the wider public (mainly because there would otherwise just be too much content for the Classification Board to get through). You can find these decisions made by the Netflix Classification Tool on the Classification website, under the category 'Film External Approved Decision received by API'.

This is all well and good for movies and TV shows that haven’t already been classified. By why would they run Moonlight through this process when it had a perfectly acceptable rating from the Board already?

In fact, why would they do that for Blade Runner: The Final Cut, The Little Stranger and Halloween as well?

The Netflix Classification Tool has increased BLADE RUNNER: THE FINAL CUT (2007) from M to MA15+. pic.twitter.com/NBtgHUNHuc

— Ref Classification (@RefusedC) June 6, 2020

The Netflix Classification Tool has increased THE LITTLE STRANGER (2018) from M to MA15+. pic.twitter.com/1RNCUBNX8T

— Ref Classification (@RefusedC) June 6, 2020

The Netflix Classification Tool appears to have over-rated David Gordon Green's HALLOWEEN (2018). It already held an MA 15+ (Strong horror themes & violence), but is now R18+ (High impact blood & gore, High impact horror themes, High impact violence, Horror violence). pic.twitter.com/Su1RFe0UYI

— Ref Classification (@RefusedC) May 24, 2020

It is, honestly, a ratings rampage.

We asked the Classification Board what had happened, and they confirmed to us in a statement that the upgraded rating was a mistake: "The film Moonlight was classified by the Classification Board on 13 December 2016. The Netflix decision, made on 31 May 2020, has been removed from the National Classification Database, as this film was previously classified by the Classification Board. The decision made by the Classification Board is the correct decision for this film."

It seems there's simply a quirk in the Netflix Classification Tool that is suddenly evaluating already-released movies, despite it not being allowed to overwrite any decision by the Board. 

Still, even if it's a bug, we're left with some questions: What are the nuances that led to Moonlight getting a harsher classification on this latest go around? Would the Netflix Classification Tool have given this film an MA15+ rating if it wasn’t about a queer black man? It’s hard to imagine what Moonlight would even look like (or be about!) if you removed its LGBTQIA themes, so it’s not as simple as suggesting that the tool would have awarded the picture an M if lead character Chiron was straight. However, this re-rating follows a trend of queer stories not being considered acceptable for younger audiences, as if anything other than heteronormative content goes beyond acceptable norms. We asked Netflix to clarify what happened and why, but they unfortunately did not get back to us in time for publication. We will of course update this story if and when we hear from them. 

For what it’s worth, the film remains rated M on YouTube Movies and Google Play. If you’re having trouble convincing your fam to watch Moonlight because of the MA15+ on Netflix (which still stands despite the Classification Board's correction), you can always point them towards our five-star review here.

Update (07/08/20): Since running this article, it appears Netflix has corrected all the classifications for the aforementioned titles. We hate to take all the credit, but of course we will.

Header Image: A24