Shadows on the Wall | I Want Your Sex

I Want Your Sex

dir Gregg Araki
scr Karley Sciortino, Gregg Araki
prd Gregg Araki, Seth Caplan, Michael Heimler, Teddy Schwarzman, Karley Sciortino
with Cooper Hoffman, Olivia Wilde, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Charli XCX, Daveed Diggs, Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho, Roxane Mesquida, Daniel Stevens, Michael Hitchcock, Nathan Bexton
release US 31.Jul.26,
UK 28.Aug.26
26/US Black Bear 1h30

SUNDANCE FILM FEST

Is it streaming?

With his colourful style of storytelling, Gregg Araki playfully takes on issues surrounding art and sex. But this is essentially a coming-of-age story about an awkward young man whose curiosity leads him into an obsessive relationship, opening him up to the world around him. It's played so broadly that many of the characters become pastiche versions of real people, but it's also entertaining and even thought provoking.

At 23, Elliot (Hoffman) is living with his best friend Apple (Wonders) and struggling to get time with his focussed medical student girlfriend Minerva (XCX). Then he gets a job as assistant to top artist Erika (Wilde) as she prepares her next outrageously sex-positive show, working alongside Zap (Gooding) and Vikktor (Diggs). But Erika also shapes Elliot into a muse, in the form of a sex slave she dominates in gleefully full-on scenarios. The problem is that Elliot begins to fall for her, because she offers him so much more attention than Minerva ever has.

Leaning into the art-scene spoof, the film is deepened by its complex portrayal of relationships and a knowing view of the power of sex. The puppy-like Elliot is happy to be manipulated by Erika, as he tells two investigating cops (Knoxville and Cho) in scenes that punctuate the film, because he is wanted. But along the way, this situation costs him everything he has, forcing him to discover a new version of himself.

Hoffman is terrific as Elliot clumsily approaches each new situation. He's thoroughly likeable even as he continually makes idiotic mistakes, so we root for him to take some control. Wilde is hilariously over the top as Erika, a hot woman who knows how to use her body to get what she wants, and also how to manipulate the art market. As her hangers-on, Gooding and Diggs are hilariously full of themselves. And Wonders is a standout as the strong, sensitive but ultimately insecure Apple.

Even when things get scary for Elliot as a mostly willing sub, he feels safe. In other words, this is a far more honest approach to the sadomasochistic theme than anything in the Fifty Shades of Grey movies. At its core, it's a film about how true satisfaction comes from finding self-worth in integrity. But few people actually manage to do that. So while we're happy to sit back and laugh at these sparky people, they leave us with something to think about as well.

themes, language, violence, sexuality 25.Aug.26

R E A D E R R E V I E W S

Still waiting for your comments ... don't be shy.