Five landmark sex scenes in mainstream culture

‘BASIC INSTINCT’ (1992)

Nominated for Oscars and making over $350m at the box office, this was when erotic thrillers went properly mainstream, with one of the world’s biggest stars at the time (Michael Douglas, above right) and one of the brightest up-and-coming talents (Sharon Stone, above left) engaging in some very risque sex scenes.

‘SEX AND THE CITY’

(1998-2004) By today’s standards, this TV show seems pretty tame and almost a little backwards, but don’t underestimate the impact it had at the time of its release. Charlotte, Carrie, Miranda and Samantha, all pictured right, were modern women who enjoyed talking about sex, thinking about sex, writing about sex, and having sex. Lots of it.

‘WILD THINGS’ (1998)

In order to get attention in the world of erotic thrillers, you’ve got to push the envelope in some way, and that is exactly what Wild Things did. If you think of a movie that features a threesome scene, this is likely the movie you think of. Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell and Denise Richards embark on one night of three’s company, and the rest is popular cinematic history.

‘QUEER AS FOLK’ (1999-2000)

Six years before Brokeback Mountain, and 18 years before Call Me By Your Name, this was the TV show that pushed LGBTQ+ sexuality into the mainstream, and introduced some sexual acts to the general public that many may not have ever heard of before.

‘FIFTY SHADES OF GREY’ (2015)

The trilogy made over $1.3bn at the box office, so obviously the appetite for raunchy movies is still as strong as ever, regardless of the quality of the movie itself. This is yet another mainstream boundary pusher, bringing the worlds of bondage, discipline, dominance, sadism and masochism to a wider audience.