Cinemas forced to ban children wearing suits over 'Gentleminions' TikTok trend

7 July 2022, 09:48 | Updated: 7 July 2022, 10:03

A furious mother has condemned her local cinema after it banned her son from seeing the new ‘Minions’ film.

A mum has complained after her son was banned from watching the new film Minions: The Rise of Gru in a cinema because of the ‘Gentleminions’ trend.

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The TikTok video sees teenage fans of the Despicable Me franchise, who refer to themselves as ‘Gentleminions’, arriving at screenings in large groups dressed in suits.

Some of the clips see the friends snacking on bananas during the film, in reference to the villain Gru’s favourite food.

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These have racked up millions of views on social media, however reports suggest the trend has been linked to disruptive behaviour in cinemas such as throwing popcorn.

After some cinemas banned kids from watching the film, an anonymous mum claimed her 13-year-old son and his friend were turned away from a screening after arriving suits.

Taking to Mumsnet, she explained: “Like lots of people per TikTok, they dressed up in suits/ties - just for fun. Got to cinema and were told they couldn't come in because of what they were wearing.

When her son called her crying, the woman’s husband went to the cinema and reportedly found ‘five grown men standing over them shouting at them that they needed to leave’.

She continued: “Kids felt very intimidated. No dress code visible in the cinema or on the website.

“Husband asked if they had misbehaved and was told no, we just don't like this suit thing as some of the people on TikTok have kicked off.”

The mum claimed that the two kids later took off their jackets and were then allowed to watch the film.

“Is it just me or is this ridiculous? And pathetic for them to treat kids like that,” she asked.

It seems other parents were divided over the events, as one wrote: “That is ridiculous, you should definitely complain.”

But someone else said: “If there have been multiple reports of teens doing a TikTok challenge and distracting other cinema goers I can absolutely see why they want to nip it in the bud.”

A third person replied: “If this is the reason then the cinema did the right thing sorry. I would imagine like most places they have the right to refuse entry if they think they will cause trouble or stop the rest of the kids being able to watch the film. Aren’t they a bit old to be turning up to the cinema dressed up?”