10 horny movies to get you in the mood
These films are lustful, tender, and unequivocally steamy.
Every so often, an old cinematic argument is rekindled: Are sex scenes in movies necessary? There have been many off-shoots from this conversation, particularly when considering nudity, queer representation, and that oh-so nebulous element of “good taste.” But it begs the more essential question of what viewers find erotic and how they respond to those things onscreen.
There was a time when you could count on larger studios for adult-focused entertainment engineered to titillate and provoke; erotic thrillers like Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction, along with more experimental films like Don’t Look Now and Ganja & Hess come to mind. But we now live in the era of media conglomerates and streaming, where the goal is typically to appeal to the widest audiences — and sex in cinema is rare.
With that in mind, here’s a list of films that indulge in the lustful, tender, and outright horny.
Bound (1996)
The Wachowskis’ directorial debut starring Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon as lovers trying to escape the clutches of the Mafia is featured on many “sexiest” lists, and for good reason. Beyond its famous one-take sex scene, Tilly and Gershon share an infectious, compelling spark that makes the film’s shocking bursts of violence and danger even more exciting. Bound also acts as a revealing predecessor to the Wachowskis’ eventual, extremely hot Netflix series Sense8.
