Gregg Araki’s directorial debut, the 1987 guerrilla film, Three Bewildered People in the Night, was a brilliantly shot subversive story about the breakdown of a heterosexual relationship and the beginning of a homosexual one, so it is no surprise that his first feature since 2014’s White Bird in a Blizzard is another subversive take on a common movie trope: the exploration of BDSM dynamics between older and younger characters.

As seen in recent films such as Halina Reijn’s Babygirl, the typical Hollywood depiction of these dynamics tends to be an older man exploiting a younger woman, pulling her into an inappropriate erotic nightmare. Araki has flipped the dom/sub dynamics to domme/sub in I Want Your Sex, with the incredible Olivia Wilde giving us an electrifyingly enigmatic portrayal of a dominatrix CEO who pulls her new assistant (Cooper Hoffman) into a toxic, seductive affair that escalates to absurd levels of chaos.

It’s The Devil Wears Prada meets Fifty Shades of Grey meets Secretary; a bold, brash, and unrepentant condemnation of the anti-sex stigma that seems to be growing increasingly popular among younger Gen Zs. It’s an unsurprising shift for those who have read anything about the history of fascist movements and know this is nothing new for a reborn era of fascism. Granted, there are positive changes that have been made – such as dramatically reduced teen pregnancy rates and an increase in rejecting the notion that being a wife and mother is a woman’s “true purpose” – but there is also a rapidly growing sentiment being thrown around that sex itself is something to be ashamed of.

This type of screwball comedy seems like a natural progression from Araki’s homage to them in Splendor (1999), although it is much less punk/alternative than some of his earlier work. He opens it with a nod to another classic, Sunset Boulevard, and sets the tone for the rest of the film nicely within the first five minutes.

When we meet Wilde’s Erika, she both charms and disarms Hoffman’s Elliot within her first few sentences, and the audience along with him. With fierce baby bangs and a stunning wardrobe that Miranda Priestly herself would surely approve of, Wilde lights up every scene she’s in with an effervescent sensuality and emotional unavailability that is impossible for anyone, including Elliot, to resist falling for.

Seeing her in The Invite as Angela – who is a neurotic, anxious mess – versus her effortless facade that still has cracks of vulnerability in this, both within the same month…what a phenomenal talent. I am so here for the year of Olivia Wilde.

Hoffman gives a strong performance as Elliot as well, committing fully to scenes that even some well-established, long-running actors would hesitate to do. The supporting cast (Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Daveed Diggs, Charli xcx) are all incredibly funny, talented people too. The film would not be the same without strong performances from each of them, and they all delivered – even if Charli xcx is doing one of the worst attempts at an American accent I’ve heard in a while, it oddly works for her character, Elliot’s girlfriend who is too focused on her studies to pay attention to him.

The pacing of the film can feel a bit rushed at times and a bit slow at others, but not so much so that it ruins the experience. There are a couple of random animated elements that occur as bits throughout it, and I hadn’t heard an audience laugh that hard since – well, actually, The Invite, so not that long ago, but still. You get my point. In the age of AI, it’s always nice to see a variety of human artistry in one project.

While it never feels mean-spirited or like anyone involved is punching down on Gen Z, there are a couple of jokes within the film that I felt were a bit too cliché, and a few lines that don’t accurately reflect the full scope of the issue, but that’s to be expected anytime someone is telling a story about a demographic that they aren’t part of. It’s hard to be 100% accurate when you don’t have lived experience as that demographic. Considering that, this is an incredibly empathetic film that doesn’t have any deeper meaning – or any real plot, for that matter.

The ending is a tad anti-climactic and a bit of a stretch to believe would even remotely happen, but this film is not trying to be realistic, it’s trying to be loud, colorful, and in your face, so it’s fine. If you are looking for a complex story with motivations outside of just simply encouraging young people to loosen up and embrace their sexuality, this isn’t the film for you. But if you’re looking for a solid, raunchy comedy with a stacked cast, you’ll love I Want Your Sex.

I Want Your Sex opens in theaters on July 31, 2026 (USA).
Rated: R, for sexual material, language throughout, and drug use.
Run Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.