I Want Your Sex Review: Gregg Araki’s Limp Satire of Gen Z’s Sexuality Treats Predation Like a Kink

by

Erika Tracy (played by Olivia Wilde) creates art that’s been compared to both Dave LaChapelle and Jeff Koons. She’s known for large-scale depictions of provocative objects and highly colorful, sexually explicit photographs featuring herself and her partners. Whether she’s a leading figure or an outcast in the contemporary art world depends on your perspective. Tracy is bold, self-centered, and often absurd in her actions, living her life with the same unapologetic and disturbingly admiring view of power dynamics as she brings to her art.

Gregg Araki’s first film in over a decade, White Bird in a Blizzard, features a main character intentionally created to provoke a reaction, though it’s unclear exactly from whom. While her art is explicit, it’s not particularly original. Araki seems skeptical of Gen Z, noting they’re reportedly less sexually active than previous generations, and he uses the character of Erika to express this viewpoint. He essentially asks, “Why aren’t young people having sex?” – acting like a flipped version of an older generation complaining about kids and their technology.

The question of why younger generations seem less interested in sex compared to millennials is a fascinating one. While the film I Want Your Sex touches on this, it doesn’t really offer answers – it’s more of an energetic exploration of the topic. It’s a humorous, sometimes sensual, and certainly unusual movie, but it doesn’t fully realize its potential in any of those areas, or in the ways the director intended. Most disturbingly, the film treats serious issues like sexual harassment and assault with the same flippant attitude as the main character approaches her job.

Erika has a complicated relationship with Elliot (Cooper Hoffman), who acts as both her assistant and a sexual partner. One morning, Elliot wakes up covered in blood, wearing women’s lingerie, and has no memory of how he got there. He finds Erika unconscious by the pool. The film then shifts to Elliot being questioned by two detectives (Johnny Knoxville and Margaret Cho, both appearing heavily intoxicated). While Erika’s condition remains unknown, the police are determined to uncover the details of this strange connection, leading the story back 9 1/2 weeks to the beginning of their relationship.

Elliot, a recent UCLA graduate with an art degree, feels lost and lacks motivation. He’s constantly broke, relying on his friend and roommate, Apple, for money while his girlfriend, Minerva, focuses on her scientific studies and often dismisses him. Actor Hoffman embodies the carefree spirit of this Gen Z character, portraying someone who realistically acknowledges the challenges facing his generation but still manages to find joy in life.

When Elliot meets Erika, a woman with an incredibly stylish and extravagant wardrobe, she hires him immediately and quickly makes a suggestive advance. She then unexpectedly demands he crawl and beg. This marks the start of a bizarre relationship where the boundaries between manipulation and seeking creative inspiration become blurred. It’s unclear if Erika genuinely cares for Elliot, but it’s obvious she’s exploiting him in ways he doesn’t understand.

The film I Want Your Sex is enjoyable when it’s clearly making fun of things, but falls short when it tries to offer serious thoughts on sex. It cleverly satirizes the contemporary art world – how it openly embraces artificiality while still expecting respect. However, its attempt to explore Gen Z’s attitudes feels old-fashioned and sometimes misses the mark entirely. This is particularly noticeable in the character played by Mason Gooding, a casually gay man whose interests feel like a stereotypical and outdated portrayal from an older generation.

While I Want Your Sex is visually bright and energetic, it doesn’t quite live up to its potential, especially considering director Araki’s talent and previous work.

Okay, so this movie… it’s tricky. Despite being made by people who should know better – a gay director and a sex expert who runs a really frank advice site – the way sex and relationships are portrayed just didn’t feel authentic to me. It almost seemed to mock different sexualities and treated things like open relationships really carelessly. I get that’s part of what the film was going for, but the way a clearly abusive relationship was presented as cute and quirky felt…off. I kept wondering if the director and writer were trying to say something bigger about power or artistic freedom, but it never really clicked. It just left me feeling uneasy.

I have to admit, I Want Your Sex is visually interesting – really bright and energetic. But honestly, knowing how talented Shinya Tsukamoto is as a director, this film feels…underwhelming. It doesn’t quite commit to anything. It tries to be a satire, but it falls flat, and as a warning about modern relationships, it just feels silly. Maybe exploring why young people are hesitant about sex could have been a good idea, but forcing the issue – either in the movie or on viewers – doesn’t feel right.

I Want Your Sex screened at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.

Read More

2026-01-24 11:29