We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. The horror genre is full of exploitative fare with sexy coeds nixing their knickers before getting offed by some masked, socio-psycho slasher. Panting with anticipation, the two act out this seductive dance—she, dripping in opulence; him, oozing with sexual impulse—eventually giving in to an affair. A departure for director Mira Nair, whose Salaam Bombay!
As for the players, you have Tara Sarita Choudhury and Maya Indira Varma , friends-turned-foes, each tapping the ancient sex manual for reasons all her own. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan drop trou in this big-screen adaptation of the love-to-hate-it E. James best seller about a bondage enthusiast and the virginal subordinate who makes him grow a heart. Heartbroken, Tita, who is also a talented cook, pours her passion, desire, and longing for Pedro into her dishes, causing those who devour them to feel the very emotions boiling over inside of her.
But like the ebbing and flowing of the ocean, their time together is organic, heady, fleeting. And it all amounts to one satisfying masterpiece.
Zendaya in that dress. John David Washington with that furrowed brow. Filmed entirely during the height of the pandemic, this two-hander explores not only an appreciation for the human form, but the themes of trust that are inherent to any sexual relationship, and in particular the gray areas in between.
Luca Guadagnino never skimps on pulsating human desire in his films. From A Bigger Splash to Call Me by Your Name, the filmmaker loves to bring his cast to climax and back, usually with several encores before the final credits roll. Perhaps the sexiest of the batch is I Am Love, an electrifying drama starring a remarkable Tilda Swinton as a married woman whose sexual awakening throbs at the hands of a young chef whose skills extend way beyond the kitchen.
