Every so often a tedious debate crops up on social media: Are sex scenes even necessary in movies? Gen Z, we are told, want to see fewer of them. And yet the answer is clear if this awards season’s contenders have anything to say: Yes, sex is crucial to cinema.
The films in the conversation are full of sex. “Anora” revolves around a sex worker, and showing her on the job is central to the narrative. “Babygirl” is all about a woman exploring the desires that she finds shameful. Even “Nosferatu” is largely about sex: Robert Eggers’s retelling of the classic vampire tale centers on the lusts of the undead count’s prey, Ellen.
But none of the sex scenes in these and other recent movies are emotionally clear cut. Whatever titillation they might inspire comes with an asterisk: The directors are using the moments to explore complex power dynamics between characters. These scenes are meant to engender discussion, not arousal. Five in particular do this especially well:
‘Anora’: The Quickie
The first half of Sean Baker’s “Anora” plays out, in many ways, like a traditional romantic comedy. A mismatched pair — the sex worker Ani (Mikey Madison) and the oligarch heir Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn) — meets, and then marries after a quick courtship. But their sex scenes are anything but romantic. Instead, they are played almost entirely for comedy. Take the first time Ani goes over to Ivan’s mansion. The sex is transactional — after all, he’s paying for it — but it’s also extremely fast.
Madison set off controversy when she told Variety that she declined to use an intimacy coordinator on set. For an interview with The New York Times she described the work to me more as “sex shots” than sex scenes. This is true to the moment onscreen: The intercourse itself lasts about 10 seconds. Ivan orgasms too quickly and Ani stifles a laugh. The next thing you know, Baker cuts to Ivan turning on the TV. He’s satisfied; for her it’s just another day at the proverbial office. The interaction plays like a gag and the audience is meant to giggle.
Here Baker is establishing the uneven dynamics. Ani is far more experienced sexually, but that can’t make up for the fact that Ivan’s wealth means she is entirely beholden to him. Ani is not aware of this initially, but when the reality of the situation becomes evident in the second half of the movie and Ivan bolts at the first sign of a threat from his parents, she realizes just how little control she has over him.
‘Nosferatu’: The Finale
Robert Eggers’s “Nosferatu” grand finale has prompted debate ever since his film was released last month: Is it twistedly romantic? Or brutally horrific? Or something in between?
As plague spreads in her town, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) realizes that the only way to stop the reign of terror unleashed by Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) is to sacrifice herself to him. That means keeping him with her until day breaks. While her husband goes on a wild-goose chase thinking he is hunting the vampire, she dons a bridal gown and welcomes Orlok into her room. She undresses and as he sinks his teeth into her chest, she appears in a state of ecstasy. When he begins to notice the sun, she reaches up to cradle his face once more. As they lie dead in each other’s arms, flowers surrounding his desiccated corpse atop her still youthful one, they look less like villains than tragic lovers.
Of course the fact that Orlok is a centuries-old bloodsucker and Ellen is a young woman raises questions of consent, especially given how he has possessed her mind and body. But Eggers makes it clear that she is acting of her own will here, and that her desire cannot be easily explained or defined. When she met Orlok in the past, she experienced pleasure with him; the same is true in their final embrace.
‘Babygirl’: The Seedy Hotel Tryst
When Romy (Nicole Kidman) and Samuel (Harris Dickinson) first meet up in a hotel room in Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl,” they have no idea what they are doing. Romy, chief executive of a robotics company, seems in disbelief that she’s even come to this place, all dressed up in a sheer top. Samuel, for his part, is just as perplexed as he tries to perform the domination he has sensed, correctly, that Romy wants. They both appear to find their situation a little funny. Nearly the entire scene is foreplay until Reijn focuses on Kidman’s face as she lies prostrate on the rug and Samuel reaches his hand up her skirt.
Reijn’s script is specific about the confusing nature of their interaction. Romy is aware that she could be seen as exploiting Samuel. After all, she is older and quite literally his boss. She tries to maintain that air of authority, scolding him for his boldness. Samuel’s response, however, is a provocation: If he reveals what is going on, she could lose her family and her job. But Reijn doesn’t leave Romy without agency. That shot of her face as she orgasms proves that even though she enjoys being told what to do sexually, the very act of receiving pleasure is empowering to her. There is shame, but also triumph.
Desperation pours out of each frame of the first sexual encounter between Lee (Daniel Craig), an alcoholic writer, and Allerton (Drew Starkey), the young object of his fascination, in Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.”
In 1950 in Mexico City, the aloof Allerton, over at Lee’s apartment for the first time after a night of drinking, vomits into his toilet, then sits on the bed. In his intoxication, he invites Lee’s hunger for him. Lee takes this opportunity to perform oral sex on Allerton. Guadagnino films this as if Lee is worshiping at the altar of Starkey’s character. Lee is greedy in his physical consumption, but Allerton looks down at him with a mash-up of lust, pity and authority. When Allerton reciprocates, he looms over Lee, making it clear the older man is fully under his control.
It’s a gaze that speaks to the uneasy bond between these two. Allerton keeps Lee at a distance and Lee pursues him voraciously. This early moment we witness is full of desire, and while not exactly one-sided, it’s full of imbalances that throw us off. And, symbolically, what is with the puke? Did Allerton need to purge before he let Lee act?
‘Challengers’: The Three-Way Makeout Session
One complaint I’ve heard about “Challengers” is that while the movie has been hailed as sexy, there aren’t that many actual sex scenes. In fact, only once is it clear that intercourse happens: When Tashi (Zendaya) hooks up with her ex, Patrick (Josh O’Connor), in his car the night before his match with her husband, Art, who happens to be his former best friend (Mike Faist). Even in that hookup, the most explicit beats happen offscreen. I’d argue that the lack of full-blown sex scenes is intentional — the director, Luca Guadagnino again, saved the most intense erotic energy for the tennis court.
Except, that is, in the much-talked-about scene near the start of the film when Tashi, Patrick and Art, still teenagers, meet in a hotel room during the U.S. Open. She invites the guys to sit on either side of her and begins kissing each one. She then invites them to kiss her neck at the same time, before eventually pushing their faces together and sitting back to watch, a devious smile spreading across her face. They lose themselves until she breaks the spell. That’s what sex is to her: a game, just like the sport at which she excels.