By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.2 cats
Director: Gregg Araki
Starring: Charlie XCX | Chase Sui Wonders | Cooper Hoffman | Daveed Diggs | Olivia Wilde
Year: 2026
Running time: 90
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32332915
Peter says: “Standing outside in the long film festival line for Gregg Araki’s latest film, inevitably, passersby would ask those in line, ‘What is this line for?’ And you could feel the immediate discomfort on their face when “I Want Your Sex” was the response.
“With a title that even makes describing the movie you’re watching awkward, Araki’s film itself is just as provocative an experience. The candy-colored film follows a young new assistant, Elliot (Cooper Hoffman), working for a domineering modern artist, Erika (Olivia Wilde), who basically coerces him to be her ‘sub’ sex slave. Throughout the film, Elliot understands how wrong the situation is, but his twenty-something libido is making all the decisions.
“The film has a playful, cartoonish quality (sometimes literally so!) that I found sometimes amusing, other times really clashed with the events being depicted (unwanted sexual advances). Had the genders been reversed, I just can’t imagine the same reaction from audiences; mine were laughing when Wilde would, let’s just say, do certain things to Cooper, who did not give consent. They are played off like, ‘Haha, look how in over his head this timid guy is,’ but I found it more disturbing.
“Films like Babygirl and Sanctuary I thought much more effectively pushed the boundaries of these kinds of twisted, modern S&M relationships depicted on screen. Araki’s shines in that it provides some truly bold, funny, dramatic, baring-it-all roles for its lead actors, but when it tries to provide some kind of commentary on predatory behavior or critique on modern sexual sensibilities, it left a bad taste in my mouth.”
“2.5 out of 5 Cats 😺
“PS: It was awesome that the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film got a shoutout before the screening! This was my first IFFBoston as a part of this organization and it’s a dream come true to be able to watch and review all these movies!”
Eliza says: “I WANT YOUR SEX, directed by Gregg Araki, centers around artist Erika Tracy. When she requests an illicit dominant-submissive relationship with her employee, Elliot— he reluctantly agrees.”I had to suspend my disbelief at such an awkward pairing… but, he was just the next rung on Erika’s ladder (one in which she naively assumed was always going to be facing ‘up’).
“The insights into the art world, and artists like Erika (reminiscent of artist Damien Hurst, and his ‘factory’ of interns doing his work for him) seemed pretty spot on in its ability to churn stomachs. This style of artistry relies heavily on ‘directing’ and being a concept artist, moreso than actually having to do the work. This is reflected in Erika’s personal life as well, her inability to have an actual relationship.. so she outsources intimacy in the way she knows how. By dressing it in hot pink, booze, and humiliation.
“Anything groomer-y is naturally a ‘no’ for me, and the ridiculousness of the situations they find themselves in doesn’t distract from the fact that that’s what she’s doing. The movie doesn’t try and deny that necessarily, but it wasn’t where my hopes for the film wanted it to go, 2/5 cats.”
Chris says: “Once renowned for his guerilla-style New Queer Cinema flicks (such as 1992’s The Living End), filmmaker Gregg Araki shifted to something more mature and earnest with Mysterious Skin (2005), still his best in my opinion. Since then, where he’d go next has been more difficult to foresee. Consider Smiley Face (2007), a lovably stoopid stoner comedy starring Anna Faris, or Kaboom! (2010), almost a Millennial update of his 90s work.
“His first feature since the far more serious White Bird In a Blizzard (2014) fully resembles an Araki picture but it really has no logical precedent in his filmography. It is his wackiest comedy since Smiley Face, but it also borrows liberally from the structure of Sunset Boulevard as it begins near the end and flashes back to how just-out-of-college Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) scores a job as an assistant to Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), a boundary-pushing visual artist whose risqué outfits, outrageous installations and over-the-top sexual forwardness faintly resemble Truth Or Dare-era Madonna. That she’s grooming Elliot from the start is obvious long before they begin a BDSM relationship (with Erika the Dom, naturally) that’s only clandestine on the surface; Elliot’s flamboyant co-worker, Zap (a funny, feline-esque Mason Gooding) suspects as much right away, given Erika’s torrid history with past assistants.
“The film works because of its leads. Wilde is a near-revelation after a few years spent primarily behind the camera, clearly relishing the opportunity to play such a juicy part; her knack for comedic timing and commanding the screen has rarely gone this hard. Hoffman’s also developed as a performer since his debut in Licorice Pizza—of course he resembles his father but one may not necessarily make that connection without knowledge of it. If there’s a problem here (besides not including the classic George Michael tune of the same title on the soundtrack), it’s that Araki and co-screenwriter Karley Sciortino have little new to say about how titillating and ultimately empty modern art can seem. Without the twisted, misguided but palpable spark igniting between Erika and Elliot, I Want Your Sex might have ended up as fatuous as the scene it satirizes. 3 cats
“(Theatrical release this summer)”
Michael says: “A mature film that is still irreverent and tons of fun from Gregg Araki, which makes sense as he is no longer the angry young queer filmmaker that he was when he launched his career with THE LIVING END. Now he’s tackling provocative topics from a more adult angle, all the while having some fun and not taking himself nearly as seriously as he did as a young man.
“In I WANT YOUR SEX, Araki is lightly poking fun at the modern art scene, as well as the dom/sub community, all while making some thoughtful observations. While his characters are slightly cartoonish, matching the day-glow colors and trendy, modern set pieces, they all exhibit varying degrees of humanity as they navigate their way to what they think they want.
“I appreciated the strong performances by Olivia Wilde (who I had actually never seen in a film of TV show before) and particularly Cooper Hoffman, who has definitely grown up some since LICORICE PIZZA, and honed his craft, looking less like his father’s son, and stepping more into his own identity. The breakout for me though, was Chase Sui Wonders (I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER) as Cooper’s best friend. Her unexpected role in the story was one of the more difficult and powerful moments in the film, where things get real in the middle of the outlandishness.
“Unlike what others have written, I found I WANT YOUR SEX to be much more enjoyable than BABYGIRL or PILLION, two recent films that touched on similar subjects. Maybe I think an exploration of the kinkier side of sex works better in a comic framework, but whatever, all the actors look like they’re having a lot of fun. 4 cats
“Screened at the Brattle Theatre, Friday, 4/24, Independent Film Festival Boston”
Julie says: “I was initially not that motivated to see this film based on the apparent bondage picture displayed on the festival site. I went as it was wedged between COOKIE QUEENS and HOKUM (with a fave actor Adam Scott). I did however want to give it a chance based upon Cooper Hoffman, Phillip Seymor Hoffman’s son (who like Phillip always seems to pick off brand stories that turn out to be great films) and I love their work as actors. Additionally, there was a lot of buzz about Olivia Wilde who was also directing and starring in the closing night film. Admittedly at that time I didn’t know who she was.
“I was so happy that I did stay and thoroughly enjoyed the film! The first flashback scene near the beginning of the film with Cooper (Elliot) and Olivia(Erika Tracy) really drew me in and I was willing to go along for the ride!  Elliot plays Erika’s new assistant having been there a week when he gets called in to talk to his new boss (renowned artist, icon and provocateur) Erika Tracy for what seems like a reprimand for his behavior that week. The interplay between the two was so amusing and really hooked me. And right then and there it was also apparent that Olivia was a force! I am now her biggest fan!
‘The story is billed as a comedy / drama/ mystery/ thriller. All favorites of mine assuming the comedy is good and mystery not too obviously/immediately solved. Olivia and Elliot had great comedic chemistry and the supporting characters of Chase Sui Wonders as Elliot’s roommate who gets invited to a three some with Erika and Elliot was hilarious and well played as were the scenes with Charlie XCX as Elliot’s sexless med student girl friend ( always too busy studying and just not that into him). She was unrecognizable as this apparently non-sexual woman and the scenes between the two were also hilarious. The whole idea of the gum art was a nice funny and telling touch.
“You just can’t take this film too seriously or you will be disappointed. You need to just go with the flow and it’s a fun time to be had!
“4 cats“
Aaron says: “Is it selling out when transgressive filmmaker Gregg Araki delivers the relatively tame workplace dom-sub comedy I Want Your Sex? Or is it a radical act of reinvention? It’s neither. Instead, the film plays like a deliberate softening, with Araki recalibrating his provocateur instincts for a different cultural moment. Now in his 60s, he engages with Gen Z’s more cautious relationship to sex while still trying to push buttons in a post–Me Too landscape.
“That generational tension can feel overly tidy in the writing, but it’s easy to overlook when the performances are this sharp. Olivia Wilde brings a vampy, brittle confidence to her sexually liberated boss, while Cooper Hoffman bursts off the screen with the scruffy eagerness of an Irish Setter, his character less comfortable with intimacy but clearly hungry for new experiences. Together, they give shape to what feels like Araki’s broader intent, a nudge for younger people to loosen their grip on inhibition.
“Not all supporting elements fare as well. Appearances from Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho, and Charli XCX are splashy but don’t add much. In contrast, Chase Sui Wonders stands out as Hoffman’s roommate and friend, her rawness grounding things with an emotional honesty that the rest of the film only gestures toward.
“One area where the film stumbles is in its sense of progression. Araki rushes Hoffman’s evolution from tentative first step into submission to full immersion, skipping over the uncertainty and discovery that should define such a transition. What might have been a series of character-building moments instead plays like a compressed montage, a breezy recap, as if Araki wants to skip the process and get to the good stuff.
“Araki treats the material with a breezy irreverence and trusts the audience to follow along. And it works. I Want Your Sex is often a blast, even as that freewheeling energy tips into weightlessness. If this is what Araki’s mellowing looks like, it comes with a trade-off: a loss of the bite that once gave his provocations their staying power. 3.25 Cats“