DIRECTOR
Gregg Araki
White Bird in a Blizzard, Mysterious Skin.

STARS
Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Mason Gooding, Daveed Diggs and Charli XCX.

Araki’s recent project is bold, exaggerated, and audacious. I Want Your Sex features a star-studded cast – Olivia Wilde, Charli XCX, Cooper Hoffman, and Mason Gooding – all playing unique characters that have relative creative freedom. This film attempts camp, and is heavily satiric, criticising the sexual habits of different generations. Particularly targeting Gen Z, this production uses dramatic outfits, striking colours, and unexpected kinks to reveal the sexual stagnancy of younger generations when facing sex and intimacy.

The daring nature of Araki is explored limitlessly in this production, and his determination to explore sexuality without traditional stigma through unconventional pairings is proven yet again. In this film, Erika Tracey (Olivia Wilde), boss of a contemporary art gallery, develops a BDSM relationship with her most recently hired assistant, Elliot (Cooper Hoffman).

“Sex is everything, but sex is nothing” Erika mentions while navigating the highs and lows of their BDSM dynamic. Elliot, her sub, is introduced to many new experiences, exploring sexual territory that reveals many personal secrets of his own. Through these experiences, he develops his connection to himself and those around him. The sexual nature of their relationship evolves drastically throughout the film, shifting the dynamic of their relationship into something emotional and meaningful, escaping traditional expectations of a BDSM relationship.

The purpose of their relationship in this film can be associated with a critique on rising conservatism and right-wing attitudes associated towards sex and gender, especially those directed against women. Olivia Wilde’s performance as Erika is fearless and bold, refusing to simmer down. No matter what, she remains in power and always gets what she wants. In contrast, Hoffman embodies a shy, shameful, and confused male role, revealing the ease in which men judge women’s bodies and their sexuality, as well as the hold patriarchy has over their own repressed sexual nature. “I’m contemplating a podcast” his character mentions in the beginning, a nod to the rising epidemic of misogynistic male podcasts and online spaces, often known as the “manosphere”, which capitalise on the social and sexual anxieties of young men.

However, the film is not without its shortcomings. Side characters were not given enough depth or exploration, while stereotypes were comfortably used without nuance. Sex also remained a performance in this film despite its attempts to escape conventionality. A film that could have benefited from more input from its target audience ultimately feels slightly out of touch, particularly in its treatment of eroticism and foreplay. Rather than creating genuine intimacy, Araki’s parody of BDSM practises and contemporary art can sometimes feel deliberately distant from the sexuality it attempts to explore.

Ultimately, I Want Your Sex is bold in its attempt to challenge traditional attitudes towards sex, gender, and intimacy, but its exaggerated approach can sometimes work against it and make the film a performance of its own.

I Want Your Sex is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from August 27th, 2026.

Moviedoc thanks VVS Films and Nixco for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Janer for Moviedoc

Follow on Instagram – @cksjaner

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