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THE DOUBLE: CERTIFICATE
Film information
The Double
Director: Richard Ayoade
Status: 15 uncut
Year: 2013
Genre: Drama
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The Double is a British drama about a man who finds his life being taken over by someone who looks exactly
like him, but with a very different personality. Directed by Richard Ayoade, the film is an interpretation of
Fyodor Dostoevskys novella of the same name, and transposes the story of alienation and identity from
19th Century Russia to a surrealistic, steampunk styled version of modern-day America. The film has echoes
of George Orwell and Franz Kafka, with a dystopian vision of the futility of battling faceless bureaucracy.
Simon James is a timid, chronically self-effacing man, enduring a lonely existence in an indifferent world. He
is overlooked at work, cares for a difficult, demanding mother, and cant seem to connect with his dream
woman. Feeling powerless to change any of these things, Simon James is thrown into greater confusion by
the arrival of a new co-worker whose name is James Simon and is Simons exact physical double, but with a
completely opposite personality: confident, assertive and popular. As James slowly starts taking over
Simons life, Simon realises he might have to go to some very dangerous extremes in order to rid himself of
his increasingly nasty double.

The film was submitted to the BBFC for classification at the end of 2013, without any category
request. The Examiners who viewed the film noted strong language and suicide references as the
category-defining issues.
Defining issues are those which secure the age rating, though many films feature other content which is
discussed by Examiners, and might be of interest to parents or viewers. That information is always recorded
in BBFCinsight. Examiners use the BBFC Guidelines, current research and the law as the basis for all decision
making, also bearing in mind recent decisions with similar works.
The Double has around seventeen or eighteen uses of strong language ('f**k' etc), some of it used in an
aggressive context. The context in which an issue is presented is central to the question of its acceptability.
The work's target audience - who is likely to want to watch this film, and to whom does it 'speak' is also
taken into account. Under BBFC Guidelines, this level of strong language is sufficient to establish 15 as the
baseline category. Examiners noted no special contextual justification for the strong language, unlike The
Kings Speech, classified 12A in 2010, where strong language is used exclusively, but in a speech therapy
context. The Examiners also took into account that The Double has no obvious appeal to younger teenagers.
Other uses of bad language in the film are much milder (eg. 'crap', 'bloody' etc).
Suicide references in the film include scenes depicting characters killing themselves by jumping from tall
buildings. These acts are presented in a fairly stylised manner, with only brief images of bloody injury in the
aftermath. One character attempts suicide by overdosing on pills, but this takes place off screen. There are
also verbal references to people trying to kill themselves.
There are plenty of darkly comic elements throughout the film, and all the visual and verbal references
suicide are relatively undetailed, and may have been suitable at 12A. However, the overall tone of a film may
also affect the final decision, and whilst the presentation of a specific issue such as suicide references may
not necessarily be problematic at a particular rating, if the work has a generally dark or disturbing tone that
might upset the audience at that level, then it may receive a more restrictive rating. The impact of a work, or
how it makes the audience feel, is also taken into account, particularly where issues such as suicide or self-

harm are depicted or discussed. Examiners considered the overall tone of The Double to be somewhat
unsettling, and therefore decided the public should be informed that suicide references form one of the key
issues in the film. The BBFCinsight for The Double offers viewers a little more information on how the subject
is handled within the film.
Secondary issues in the film include: some brief moments of moderate violence (including a headbutt and
generalised fighting); some knife threat that results in a little blood being drawn; a few undetailed moderate
sex references; a fleeting and undetailed reference to drugs.
The Double was therefore classified at 15 in January 2014. The DVD version came to the BBFC for
classification in May 2013 and was passed at the same category. The Double was selected for the Into Film
Festival 2014.
BBFCINSIGHT PUBLICATION DATE 25/03/2014
THE DOUBLE is a drama about a man who finds his life being taken over by someone who looks exactly like
him, but with a very different personality.
LANGUAGE
There is use of strong language ('f**k'), as well as milder language such as 'hell', 'Jesus', 'damn',
'crap', 'ass' and 'bloody'.
SUICIDE
There are scenes depicting characters committing suicide by throwing themselves from buildings,
but this is presented in a stylised manner, with only brief images of bloody injury in the aftermath.
There is also a suicide attempt by overdosing on pills, with verbal references to the character trying
to kill themselves, but the act takes place off screen.
There is also brief moderate violence, moderate sex references and a passing drug reference.