Review: I Want Your Sex – Oh God, yes!

Directed by Gregg Araki
Starring Cooper Hoffman, Olivia Wilde, Charli XCX, Johnny Knxville

8/10

It seems like sex is disappearing more and more from our cinema screens. As newer generations actually voice their displeasure at seeing it in their films, this represents a shift in how the culture now views and responds to such a part of life. But now it’s made a welcome return to the cinema in a very unabashed way in I Want Your Sex. And there’s nothing particularly gratuitous about the sex in this film—hell, it’s not even very sexy. What we get is an introspection into how sex conjures up other issues to consider in our lives, such as personal exploration, consent, and the absolute mind-games of it all.

The relationship that’s explored here is between zoomer Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) and his millennial boss, Erika (Olivia Wilde), an artist who he works as an intern for. Erika is both forthright about developing a sexual relationship with the shy yet willing Elliot and also cunning and deceptive, leading and misleading her new toy-boy into a variety of odd situations. This is troubling for him, as he already has a girlfriend, Minerva (Charli XCX), though she’s an uncaring and sexless girlfriend.

I Want Your Sex has produced what may be the “love” story of the year, not so much because of how lovey-dovey the two become, but because of the yucky intricacies that arise in a relationship (whether it’s a genuine couple or just a couple of FWBs). The differences in what Elliot and Erika want cause such friction between the two, as they keep getting repelled and attracted to one another over and over.

If it weren’t for the duo performers at the centre of it, this intriguing portrayal of modern lust would’ve faulted so much. But Wilde and Hoffmann work magic to their roles, both working together in such a unique dynamic. Hoffmann is the shy and bashful young Gen Z-er, whose lack of confidence and conviction doesn’t diminish his capacity for going out of his comfort zone and expanding his horizons. Wilde is spectacular as the bossy and controlling dominatrix, who conveys a sense of respect and consent in their whole affair that turns out to be false.

It should make everyone overjoyed to see writer-director Gregg Araki back behind the camera—he hasn’t made a feature since 2014, and this one in particular has his fingerprints all over it. There’s campiness here and there to it, but I Want Your Sex still gets right down to the heart of sex and what truly makes young people tick these days.

DAVID MORGAN-BROWN