An Australian horror film, Together, has sparked widespread criticism in China after audiences discovered it had been digitally altered to replace a same-sex couple with a heterosexual one.
The film, directed by Michael Shanks and starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie, follows a couple who move to the countryside only to confront a mysterious supernatural force. It premiered at Sundance in January, released in the US and Australia in July, and has earned a strong 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In advance screenings across China on 12 September, audiences quickly noticed discrepancies. Online comparisons revealed that sex and nudity scenes had been obscured—such as extra steam digitally added to a shower sequence—and, more controversially, a gay couple’s relationship was altered, with one male actor’s face replaced by a woman’s. References to same-sex relationships were also removed.
Chinese filmgoers took to platforms like Douban to express outrage, with one review calling the edits “distortion and misrepresentation” and another condemning the changes as “disrespectful to the actor’s sexual orientation.”
The film’s global distributor, Neon, has strongly denounced the edits, stating they did not authorise the changes and have demanded that Chinese distributor Hishow cease circulating the altered version. Hishow has yet to respond publicly.
This controversy highlights ongoing censorship practices in China, where LGBT representation remains heavily restricted. In recent years, films like Oppenheimer were similarly altered for Chinese release, and authorities have intensified crackdowns on same-sex content, including the arrests of dozens of writers of gay fiction earlier this year.
With Together still unreleased in Chinese cinemas despite its planned 19 September debut, the backlash underscores a growing global debate over censorship, artistic integrity, and the use of AI to reshape creative works.
