I Want Your Sex, Gregg Araki’s first film in 12 years, is a hilarious and timely treatise on young adult sex lives. Starring Cooper Hoffman and Olivia Wilde, the film follows a young Gen Z intern, Elliot (Hoffman), who begins an illicit sexual relationship with his employer (Wilde), the controversial modern artist Erika Tracy.
The performances of the film’s two leads are absolutely mesmerizing, with incredible romantic and comedic chemistry. Hoffman once again proves himself as an acting powerhouse in the same vein as his late father, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and fills every second of his screentime with some of the most inspired and intuitive acting choices I have ever seen a 23-year-old make.
Wilde is similarly stunning, drawing on her incredible comedic chops to turn herself into a veritable well of hilarity, while also allowing herself to be sensuous and alluring. Together, the pair are an absolute joy to watch share the screen, and their relationship is absolutely foundational to the film’s quality—without their commitment to the often ludicrous nature of their roles, the entire film would crumble.
Araki’s decade away from the big screen has not seen his directorial skills diminish and he once again proves himself as a master of independent filmmaking. Despite the film’s small budget, there is not a single moment of craft or form that is sub-par. The cinematography is some of the best I’ve seen in years, harkening back to the pre-digital look of independent film of the early 2000s, with strong lighting and deliberate compositions. Costuming and set design is also fantastic—bright and colourful without feeling tacky, a welcome breath of fresh air compared to the bland and gritty production design that populates so many modern films. The writing is consistently hilarious, and approaches the Gen Z sex crisis with sincerity and compassion instead of the mocking condescension typical of comedy films that broach the subject.
Overall, I Want Your Sex is a welcome return for Gregg Araki, one that will undoubtedly be enjoyable to many and start conversations about how we as a society understand sexual attraction
