‘I Want Your Sex’ Review: Uneven but Delightfully Zany Sex Positive Comedy
It’s been nearly 12 years since Gregg Araki’s last feature film. If anything, what’s most apparent about I Want Your Sex is that the director is letting loose in both poppy stylization and a plea for younger generations to get out and get laid.
In the process of providing a silly atmosphere to match its brightly colored zaniness, I Want Your Sex barrels through quite a bit. This includes the ideas behind true integrity within art, the roles of power and submission within a relationship, and how the limitless end of sexual freedom can dip into a consensual violation of what we’re less comfortable with.
Araki can’t quite give proper focus to every topic the film touches on throughout its romp, and its raunchy vibe isn’t quite as engaging as the visual splendor of Araki’s teen apocalypse trilogy. But the film is still largely a fun time thanks to a nice flow between its quirky sensibilities. Add a completely game cast to the mix, with exceptionally hilarious performances from Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman specifically, and you’ve got a clunky but consistently funny sex positive comedy.
The plot of I Want Your Sex (2026)
I Want Your Sex centers around introverted 23-year-old Elliot (Hoffman), a fresh-out-of-college graduate with an art degree who, like most 20-somethings, is drifting through life still trying to figure out what exactly to do with himself. He spends his life bumming off his roommate Apple (Chase Sui Wonders) and struggling to have sex with his disinterested girlfriend Minerva (Charli xcx).
His whole life changes in ways he could never imagine when he lands a job with renowned artist mogul Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde). Erika is particularly candid in both how she views her own and others’ art, but also in how she expresses it within how people express themselves sexually.
It doesn’t take long before Elliot’s attraction to Erika leads to her forming a sub/dom sexual relationship with him, becoming her sexual muse. As Elliot is fully introduced to a kinky sexual world that he’s never truly experienced before. He starts to realize he’s way in over his head, making discoveries as their dynamics can change on the flip of a dime, and what seemed like a miracle for Elliot devolves into a nightmare.
Wilde and Hoffman help the film remain witty and savvy despite a few hiccups
Your mileage will definitely vary on whether you’ll be able to ride both the stylistic and tonal wavelengths of I Want Your Sex. The cast is easily the film’s strong point, with Olivia Wilde being the bedrock of everything the film is tackling.
Wilde is simply uber-committed to every wild turn Erika takes as the narrative unfolds, balancing pure hilarity in her interactions with Hoffman while also capturing the finer points of the film’s horniest and silliest moments. She plays the pure unpredictability of Erika’s personality to an absolute tee, and the film’s tonal play would be even messier without her.
Wilde’s chemistry with Hoffman is even more electric. Hoffman’s more reserved performance acting is not just a perfect counterbalance to Erika’s wild sensibilities (pun intended). Even the smaller moments between characters feel at one with the movie’s core—the multiple boundaries we view within our own different sexual experiences, and the film never loses sight of this even in its clunkiest moments.
Speaking of those occasional clunky moments. There are times when I Want Your Sex can start to feel more like a cavalcade of buzzwords surrounding Gen Z lingo and the relevance of art that are about a couple of years too late. That’s not to say that there aren’t instances where Araki and co-screenwriter Karley Sciortino find great discussions surrounding the wary nature of Gen Z about sex and how Erika views the generation as regressive in a non-forceful way. Still, the film’s ideas become a bit too thin to the point where its compelling conversations start to become more redundant than interesting, losing its coherence as it goes on.
There’s also the visual liberties Araki takes with his direction here, which may be off-putting for some but mostly work for the aesthetic the film is going for. I Want Your Sex is most similar to Araki’s work in Smiley Face, with the occasional flourishes of delightful but absurd 2D animations and overexposed lighting that makes the film look more like a straight-up porno at points.
It mostly works as a purposeful touch to add to the campy attitude of the film’s kinkiest scenes and Elliot’s sexual fantasies. However, if anything, the film should’ve committed even more to this energy to make the less cartoonish bits of the narrative, like its neo-noir framing device, less shoehorned in. But the film hits on the laughs and the silliness more often than not.
Final thoughts on I Want Your Sex
I Want Your Sex suffers from some occasional narrative clunkiness and doesn’t quite land with all of its attempted quirks. The film mostly succeeds as a fun sex comedy romp thanks to its exploration of finding more connections sexually without feeling shame about it. An extremely delightful performance from Olivia Wilde pulls the whole thing together. The film might not be Araki at his absolute peak, but it’s a solid return outing for the director.
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