Earlier this month, it was revealed that Matrix directors Lana and Lilly Wachowski faked a film shoot in order to bypass COVID-19 rules and hold a Matrix 4 wrap party for 200 members of cast and crew, including Keanu Reeves. However, they’re not the only ones that have misled authorities to throw a party in the time of coronavirus; two Australian schoolboys have recently gone as far as getting “married” to get around restrictions on their own event.

The pair of “best friends” – the relationship is purely platonic, it turns out – were attempting to throw an afterparty for their end of year prom. Admittedly, that sounds slightly less glamorous than the Wachowskis’ gathering, but it wasn’t much smaller, with a planned 150 attendees.

By holding a “wedding” before the event, the students were legally allowed to have that many people attend, so long as they obtained official permission and adhered to social distancing guidelines. Without a wedding ceremony, the gathering would be subjected to normal COVID-19 restrictions, capping attendance at 30 people.

Unfortunately for the private schoolboys (or fortunately, if you factor in the risk of catching the virus) one of their parents spotted images of the fake wedding on social media, cottoned onto what was going on, and rushed home from a holiday to stop the party before it even got started.

“Clearly, this was a silly teenage idea,” the dad tells the Australian Daily Telegraph, clarifying that: “no legally binding ceremony took place.”

“Furthermore, we immediately engaged a security firm to ensure that if anyone tried to attend, they would be turned away,” he says, “and no-one did actually turn up.”

The US – and Los Angeles in particular – has also seen a spate of illegal parties and gatherings since the global spread of COVID-19, with influencers seemingly flaunting public health orders left, right, and centre. In September, Billie Eilish even publicly called out people partying during the pandemic, a criticism echoed by Ariana Grande earlier this month.