We Went to the Movies: I Want Your sex
I Want Your Sex is one part crime procedural, one part raunchy sex comedy, and two parts commentary on our culture’s current relationship to sex, art, and capitalism. It is at times blunt in the portrayal of its goal. Erika (portrayed by Olivia Wilde) tells Elliot (portrayed by Cooper Hoffman) that his generation is cowardly, accusing them of using social media, pornography, and other means to avoid the risk of vulnerable connection to others. The only thing that could make this message more obvious is if Erika broke the 4th wall and said this directly to the camera.
The film uses oversaturated colors, exaggerated sound effects, cartoon animation and a wide variety of sexual content to create the vehicle for the audience to ride along while Elliot recounts his past 9 ½ weeks of life. The director and the actors treat every sexual scene with care and purpose; costuming, lighting, sound effects, and the roles of the actors come together to show you, the viewer, that Elliot has chosen the risk laden path of saying yes to his life changing. Elliot becomes brave through his relationship with Erika. He says yes to a sexual relationship with Ericka.
He becomes open to change and begins saying yes to uncertain outcomes. The film doesn’t lie to the viewer. It doesn’t tell us that saying yes to changing one’s life is easy and comfortable. It literally opens with Elliot, in a babydoll pink negligee, fishing a naked and unconscious Erika out of a pool and calling 911, then smash cuts to him sitting in an interrogation room answering questions about her whereabouts.
I Want Your Sex once again bluntly tells us that changing our lives requires taking risks and the outcomes are rarely simple or finite. Sure, things at the start of the movie are stressful for Elliot, but as he tells his story we watch him: take risks and experience pleasure, take risks and experience joy, take risks and experience relief, take risks and experience excitement and anticipation and dread. We see Elliot’s life change, not when he’s sitting behind a computer, but when he’s out in the world trying things with no certainty of how they’re going to turn out.
I Want Your Sex is fun, weird, and silly, and every actor in it is committed to giving their all. I think the real genius of the film is it can be transformative to you if you need it to be, or it can just be a weirdly emotional sex comedy that has great costumes and knows exactly how to light a sex scene. It comes out today and I think it’s worth a watch!
