Jennifer Lawrence's new movie No Hard Feelings is being called out for promoting grooming

Jennifer Lawrence's upcoming movie promises to be a raunchy comedy, but some people think that its plot line is no laughing matter.

No Hard Feelings will see Lawrence play a desperate woman called Maddie who is in need of a new car.

Maddie takes up a job from a pair of rich 'helicopter parents' who want their 19-year-old son to have sex before he heads off to college.

The trailer sees Maddie desperately trying to seduce the 'unf**kable' Percy, which results in various shenanigans.

Since the trailer dropped, the film has been widely anticipated by fans who claim it was the first trailer that got them to laugh in a long time.

However, the reception hasn't been totally positive, as some eyebrows have been raised at the age gap between Maddie and Percy in the movie.

Sony

Although Maddie's age in No Hard Feelings has not been confirmed, Lawrence herself is 32 years old.

One viewer called out the different gender standards and questioned if the movie would still be considered ‘funny’ if it was an older man hired to ‘date’ a teenage ‘girl’.

They tweeted: "First, I adore Jennifer Lawrence, so don’t start. But a thirty-two-year-old woman getting compensated to ‘date’ and ‘date hard’ an eighteen year old boy?

"All with the okay of mom and dad. I wonder if it’d be just as 'funny' if it was a 32 year old man and an 18 year old girl."

Sony

This struck a chord with a lot of other Twitter users.

One wrote: "Yeah if the roles were reversed and it was a 19 yr old daughter, it would be weird if her parents paid some 30 yr old man to ‘date’ her."

Another concurred: "I was lowkey thinking [because] honestly if the genders were swapped there would be a boycott lmaoo but it still looks cute."

While one person said: "Agreed, but how old is the character? It's not unusual for actors to play much younger characters. If she's 25 and he's 19 it's still questionable (the way the whole premise of the movie is questionable) but a lot less so."

Another Twitter user thought the film was promoting grooming, as they tweeted: "It's grooming."

A fellow critic wrote: "I feel like a movie about grooming a 19-year-old kid isn't the feel-good hit it would have been a few years ago."

Sony

Grooming is defined as 'befriending or establishing an emotional connection with a minor under the age of consent with the objective of having sexual relations with said child'.

Technically, what is happening in the film wouldn't fall under this definition as Percy is 19 years old - above the age of consent of 18 in the US.

UNILAD has contacted Sony for comment.

Regardless of the criticism, the film's trailer has still enjoyed wide spread support, receiving more than 50 million views in the 24 hours after it was released - a record for an original comedy's trailer.

No Hard Feelings will hit cinemas on 23 June.