Hollywood Embraces Sex Again
LOS ANGELES — Zendaya, clad in a skintight dress, gyrates on a dance floor in “Challengers,” a $56 million sports drama that recently arrived in multiplexes. “It’s getting hot in here,” the hip-hop soundtrack intones, as she closes her eyes and runs her hands through her hair, lost in fantasy. “So take off all your clothes.”
The story continues at a motel, where Zendaya, playing a tennis prodigy, begins a ménage à trois with two guys; it fizzles after they become more interested in each other. The plot moves on — to sultry interplay on the hood of a car, in a dorm room, on the wooden slats of a sauna.
Hollywood is hornier than it has been in years.
“It absolutely feels like the pendulum has swung back toward filmmakers exploring adult relationships and sexuality in their projects,” said Amy Pascal, the former chairwoman of Sony Pictures and producing force behind “Challengers.” “I welcome that.”
Eroticism used to be common in studio movies like “Challengers.” “Body Heat,” “Basic Instinct,” “Fatal Attraction,” “Disclosure,” “Cruel Intentions” and “Eyes Wide Shut” are among the many examples from the 1980s and ’90s. In the 2000s, however, film companies started to focus on tamer franchises and animation — genres that could play to a global audience and sell merchandise. Studios also wanted to expand into China, where censors do not allow sex scenes. As a result, steamy storytelling began to dwindle on the big screen, moving to premium television instead.
Sex in mainstream movies was “pretty much gone” by
2019, as Ann Hornaday, chief film critic for The Washington Post, wrote in a column that year. Months later, Kate Hagen, writing in Playboy magazine, found that only about 1.2 percent of films released between 2010 and 2020 contained an overt sex scene, the lowest total since the 1960s.
Now, some filmmakers are pushing back. Awards season brought “Saltburn,” with its arousing-disturbing bathtub scene and Barry Keoghan’s twirling, full-frontal finale. “Poor Things” found an insatiable Emma Stone romping through a Paris brothel. Christopher Nolan filmed the first sex scenes of his 35-year career for “Oppenheimer.”
Over the past year, the trickle of sex comedies in theaters turned into a relative torrent. “Anyone but You” found Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell going at it. “No Hard Feelings” starred Jennifer Lawrence on a mission to deflower an awkward student. “Bottoms,” “Back on the Strip” and “Joy Ride” also tried mixing sex with laughs.
This month, Mr. Powell will return to theaters in the comedic “Hit Man,” about an undercover agent who begins an affair with a suspect. And “Blink Twice,” a thriller starring Channing Tatum as a mogul who lures women to a private retreat, is scheduled for release in August.
The upturn may simply be a scheduling quirk. “Challengers” was supposed to come out last year, but it was delayed because of union strikes. Its arrival now — between “Poor Things” and “Hit Man” — could be creating the false appearance of a film industry turn.
But there are signs that suggest a genuine shift. One involves intimacy coordinators, or experts who help performers navigate the awkwardness of filming sex scenes. Their inclusion on sets became common after the #MeToo movement of the late 2010s. Film producers say stars have become more willing to participate in simulated intimacy as a result.
Young screenwriters and directors also seem to be rediscovering movies like “American Gigolo” (1980) and “9½ Weeks” (1986) and drawing inspiration. Some studio executives say filmmakers like Luca Guadagnino, who directed “Challengers,”
‘Challengers’ and ‘Saltburn’ make use of eroticism.
are interested in exploring changing attitudes about sex — as seen in the rise of Only-Fans and the shame-free embrace of sexual fluidity by millennials and Gen Z. Perhaps contributing a degree of sexual liberation: Studios have stopped chasing China.
So far, results have been mixed. “Anyone but You,” made by Sony for $25 million, collected a hefty $219 million this year, while “Poor Things,” which cost Searchlight Pictures $35 million, took in a solid $117 million. But “Joy Ride” and “No Hard Feelings” have disappointed.
Reviews for “Challengers” have been extremely positive. It collected $25 million in its opening weekend globally.