I Want Your Sex — NewFest Pride Review
Source: Magnolia Pictures
It’s been 12 years since Gregg Araki’s last film, White Bird in a Blizzard (2014), a work that felt only faintly recognizable as a Gregg Araki picture. I Want Your Sex not only serves as his first feature since then, but also marks a major return to form for the auteur. It’s refreshing to see a movie with Araki’s signature style on the big screen in 2026, and equally refreshing to see a film embrace horniness and sexuality with such unapologetic enthusiasm. It’s as if Gregg Araki heard the discourse about how Gen Z wants less sex in movies and TV and decided to push back. With I Want Your Sex, he seems to be shouting from the rooftops that there’s nothing wrong with being horny and that we need to make movies sexual again.
Source: Magnolia Pictures
I Want Your Sex is far tamer than Araki’s most famous works, particularly his Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy, but compared to many of the films released in recent years, it feels every bit as provocative as anything he’s made. It fits neatly within his filmography, which has long been preoccupied with youth culture. While his earlier films explored teen angst, alienation, ennui, and existential dread, I Want Your Sex turns its attention to Gen Z’s attitudes toward sex. The result is an outrageously funny, delightfully sleazy satire about sexuality, boundaries, power imbalances, and art.
The film begins with Elliott (Cooper Hoffman) stumbling outside in a drunken stupor to find his boss, the provocative artist Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde), floating face down in a pool, in an opening reminiscent of Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard (1950). In fact, Erika Tracy feels like a contemporary riff on Norma Desmond, sharing the same iconic, larger-than-life presence. The film then playfully jumps back to 9 ½ weeks earlier, a cheeky nod to Adrian Lyne’s erotic drama 9 ½ Weeks (1986), which prompted what was quite possibly the hardest I’ve ever heard an audience laugh at a time card.
Source: Magnolia Pictures
The opening mystery also allows Araki to have fun with the film’s structure, weaving in a series of interrogation scenes led by two police officers played by Margaret Cho and Johnny Knoxville. The casting choices are fitting not only because Margaret Cho previously appeared in Araki’s The Doom Generation (1995), but also because I Want Your Sex often feels like Araki’s equivalent to John Waters’ A Dirty Shame (2004), which stars Johnny Knoxville. Like A Dirty Shame, I Want Your Sex is an unabashed celebration of sex that revels in its own raunchiness.
Source: Magnolia Pictures
Erika and Elliott embark on a sexual relationship that opens Elliott up in unexpected ways. The film plays out like an erotic workplace comedy reminiscent of Steven Shainberg’s Secretary (2002), albeit with the gender dynamics reversed. Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman are magic together. Wilde’s wild turn as Erika Tracy might actually be the best of her career, and Hoffman’s naïve Elliott proves the perfect foil to her confident and commanding personality.
The supporting cast also blends seamlessly into Araki’s world. While there are some familiar faces that longtime Araki fans will recognize, the newcomers prove equally at home in his universe, especially Mason Gooding as Elliott’s co-worker, Zap. Daveed Diggs displays strong comedic timing as Erika’s business manager, Vikktor, and Chase Sui Wonders delivers plenty of laughs as Elliott’s best friend, Apple. Charli xcx also makes an appearance, though fans hoping for a substantial role may leave disappointed, as her screen time is brief and her character, Minerva, is written as intentionally one-dimensional and utterly unlikable. At one point, Apple even remarks that she’s what you’d get if you asked AI to generate “a complete and total bitch.”
Source: Magnolia Pictures
While I Want Your Sex may be more accessible than some of Araki’s earlier work, it will likely be a more satisfying experience for viewers already familiar with his style. The film is funny enough to win over newcomers, but others may find the heightened artificiality of Araki’s world and its campy dialogue off-putting. Its visual style is as colorful and silly as the film itself, though some may still find it garish, as Araki and cinematographer Tucker Korte opt for heavily overlit compositions. This, however, appears to be an intentional choice, evoking the cheap, tacky aesthetics of low-budget pornography. If the tone and visuals didn’t already make it clear that I Want Your Sex is the type of film that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Araki also incorporates a few brief bursts of animation, further amplifying the cartoonish sensibility.
Source: Magnolia Pictures
The film doesn’t just refuse to take itself seriously; it extends that same irreverence to sex itself. Araki depicts desire with a sense of openness, without attaching shame or moral weight to it. What’s even more impressive is his ability to address the topic without coming across as condescending. He seems genuinely curious about Gen Z’s attitudes toward sex and interested in understanding the mentality behind them, which keeps the film from feeling didactic. When Elliott describes how people his age handle situations that make them uncomfortable, Erika responds that all of her sexual experiences have shaped who she is today and that stepping outside of one's comfort zone is the whole point. It’s as if Araki is letting young people know that it’s okay to make mistakes, that desire isn’t something to be ashamed of, and that there’s no need for self-imposed sexual repression. He makes it clear that there’s nothing wrong with sexual experimentation, so long as it’s grounded in consent.
Production designer Angelique Clark and costume designers Monica Chamberlain and Arianne Phillips seem to be having an absolute blast with this film. The art that Erika and her employees create is brash, unhinged, and unapologetically sexual, whether it’s a vagina made out of chewing gum or a garden of neon-colored penis piñatas. Erika’s eccentric dominatrix-style outfits are one of the highlights. Whether she’s rocking latex or a giant dildo as a fashion accessory, every outfit is unique and more noteworthy than the last.
Gregg Araki during the Q&A at NewFest Pride
In the end, Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex is a riotous and remarkable return to form. It’s a hilarious, hedonistic, horny experience that embraces excess without ever losing its edge. Bolstered by fiercely committed, knockout performances from Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman, the film is an uninhibited, audacious examination of sexuality and desire that leaves you wanting more. I would have happily spent more time with these characters and in Araki’s flamboyant, vibrant, gleefully sex-positive world. I Want Your Sex is sexy, sleazy, and so much fun. At a time when movies are becoming increasingly sexless, Gregg Araki is back to remind us that sexuality on screen still matters.
I Want Your Sex premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. It had its New York premiere at NewFest Pride on May 30, 2026.
Check out I Want Your Sex in theaters on July 31, 2026.
