Two months into the year, it’s clear that 2025 hasn’t fully unveiled the depths of its cinematic sensuality just yet. Still, a handful of bold, provocative films have already made waves. Some stirred critical acclaim, others sparked controversy—and a few managed both. Whether through explicit storytelling, suggestive tension, or playful subversion, these four films stand out as the most memorable explorations of sex in cinema so far this year.
The Visitor
Leave it to Bruce LaBruce to redefine the phrase “out of this world.” In The Visitor, a naked man arrives in England inside a suitcase, one of several identical beings whose presence is as symbolic as it is erotic. The film plays like a sci-fi satire with pornographic leanings, borrowing from Pasolini’s Teorema and layering it with LaBruce’s signature anarchic sexuality. This isn’t merely titillation—it’s commentary. Scenes of real sex unfold with deliberate detachment, intercut with winking slogans like “OPEN BORDERS OPEN LEGS” and “OEDIPAL IMBROGLIO.”
Family as Fantasy, and Fantasy as Protest
The Visitor infiltrates a nameless nuclear family, bedding each member while barely a word is spoken. The minimal dialogue and lack of emotional buildup make the acts feel both outrageous and oddly normalized. LaBruce uses the absurdity of the premise—and moments of scatological shock—to poke at traditional values, gender roles, and xenophobic paranoia. The sex is explicit, but the mood is often playful, even jubilant. For a film so committed to subversion, it ends up being oddly liberating.
Misericordia
French director Alain Guiraudie continues his exploration of desire, secrecy, and violence with Misericordia, a simmering story about unspoken love, buried pasts, and dangerous impulses. While not as sexually explicit as his earlier work, the film thrives on its charged silences and suggestive body language. Jérémie, the troubled protagonist, returns to a countryside full of ghosts and grudges—and perhaps one unresolved romance.
Sex in the Shadows
Instead of graphic scenes, Guiraudie focuses on the emotional architecture surrounding sex: suspicion, guilt, longing. Jérémie’s interactions—with a skeptical old friend, a curious priest, and a mourning matriarch—are laced with tension. The camera may cut away before clothes come off, but what lingers is the sensation that everyone’s motives are driven by desires they can’t fully admit. Guiraudie crafts a film where what isn’t shown is as potent as what is.
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Twenty-five years after her film debut, Bridget Jones returns—this time balancing single motherhood with a new flirtation that’s decidedly age-inappropriate (and all the more delightful for it). Mad About the Boy pairs Renée Zellweger with The White Lotus breakout Leo Woodall as Roxter, a charming younger man who lights a new spark in Bridget’s chaotic life.
Sex, Age, and Awkwardness
The film is more suggestive than steamy, with much of the action conveyed through innuendo and Bridget’s famously self-deprecating narration. A single implied sex scene (slip left on, naturally) and a fair amount of dirty talk keep it just within R-rated territory. But what it lacks in heat, it makes up for in charm. Bridget’s foray into Tinder and condom shopping serves more as comedic set pieces than erotic preludes, but it’s a welcome, funny look at sex after 50—and the self-discovery that can still follow.
Parthenope
With Parthenope, Paolo Sorrentino crafts a visually intoxicating ode to beauty, femininity, and the burdens of being desired. Centered around its stunning protagonist (played by Celeste Dalla Porta), the film doesn’t bombard the viewer with sex scenes—it whispers seduction into every frame.
Desire as Destiny
Parthenope’s sexual allure becomes a magnet for the men and women around her—including her own brother. Yet, rather than indulging in shock or sensationalism, Sorrentino lets the story breathe. Sex, when it arrives, is soft-lit and stylized. That is, until it isn’t: a scene involving a priest and a miracle involving the blood of San Gennaro has already triggered outrage among Catholic groups, but for Sorrentino, sacrilege seems secondary to aesthetic. Parthenope doesn’t just titillate—it dares to provoke through suggestion, symbolism, and sheer cinematic beauty.
Looking Ahead
With titles like Twinless and Sauna still awaiting wider release, and more boundary-pushing films likely to emerge as the year progresses, 2025 may end up being a landmark year for erotic cinema. But even now, it’s clear: the best sex movies aren’t just about the act—they’re about the emotions, politics, and artistry behind it. Whether through satire, tension, awkwardness, or sacrilege, these films remind us that sexuality in cinema is still fertile ground for bold, complex storytelling.
