This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The head of the New Zealand film classification board, David Shanks, has demanded a new warning be added to prints of the Oscar-tipped remake of A Star Is Born.

The film now comes with a suicide warning note, after complaints of viewer distress from Police Victim Support, who said two vulnerable young people had been “severely triggered” after watching the scene in which Bradley Cooper’s character hangs himself in his garage.

The Office of Film & Literature Classification said further complaints were also filed to them by the Mental Health Foundation.

The film is rated M – “unrestricted, suitable for 16 years and over” – in the country, after the classification it was awarded in Australia was carried over. The note “Sex scenes, offensive language and drug use” remained intact, too, until Shanks’s “and suicide” was added.

Shanks praised the film’s handling of the topic but said he felt that the addition was still necessary.

“Many people in New Zealand have been impacted by suicide,” he said. “For those who have lost someone close to them, a warning gives them a chance to make an informed choice about watching.”

Female success and male decline: what A Star Is Born tells us about fame, fear and feminism Read more

The Mental Health Foundation also credited the film with discretion as the death happens off screen, but said they had heard some viewers left feeling extremely distressed and requiring access to professional support.

The current frontrunner for the best picture prize at next year’s Oscars, A Star Is Born is the fourth film version of the story of a grizzled star who falls for – and mentors – an aspiring singer.

• Contact the Samaritans for free from any telephone on 116 123. You can call even if you don’t have credit on your mobile, and the number won’t show up on phone bills. Or you can email jo@samaritans.org or go to samaritans.org to find details of your nearest branch, where you can talk a trained volunteer face to face.

• In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org