Bohemian Rhapsody has reportedly faced substantial cuts from censors in Malaysia due to the country’s strict laws regarding homosexuality.
The highly-anticipated Freddie Mercury biopic was released and sees Rami Malek star as the iconic Queen frontman.
Reportedly, twenty-four minutes of the film were cut to appease the laws, among them a clip in which Mercury explains his bisexuality to Mary Austin, his fiancé.
The film has a PG-13 rating in the United States and the United Kingdom and has a 134-minute runtime.
In Malaysia, however, the film has a comparatively low runtime, with some viewers claiming the slashed scenes have brought the film down to a paltry 110 minutes, alongside an 18 rating.
In Malaysia the runtime for Bohemian Rhapsody is 110 minutes with an 18+ rating while in the rest of the world it’s 134 minutes with a PG-13 rating. We straightwashed an already straightwashed movie and it’s still not appropriate.
— Asaad (@asaadahmedd) November 5, 2018
Malaysian viewers have complained that without the scenes that have been cut by the Malaysian Film Censorship Board, which primarily concerned homosexuality, the film lacks context and has significant plot holes.
Disclaimer for watching #BohemianRhapsody in Malaysia: they cut out ALL the gay scenes thus leaving out HUGE PLOT HOLES.
I watched it in both Singapore & Malaysia & I realise you won’t fully understand if you watch it in Malaysia. Recommend to watch someplace else!!
— MalayVines™ (@MalayVines) November 9, 2018
Bohemian Rhapsody was released earlier this month (2nd November) and currently boasts the second largest box office opening of all time for a music biopic, confounding critics who gave it negative reviews.
