“I Want Your Sex,” an erotic thriller starring Olivia Wilde as a sexually confident artist who embarks on a sadomasochistic relationship with a gallery assistant, electrified Sundance Friday night. Cooper Hoffman plays Elliot, a stand-in for Wilde’s ruler in director Gregg Araki’s latest boundary-pushing and provocative film. Kim Yutani, Sundance’s programming director, called it a “return to his roots” for the filmmaker in his opening remarks.
Both stars bare it all in a relationship that is both kinky and at times tender. Of course, not in the traditional way. Erica Tracy, played by Wilde, opens Hoffman’s sexual Pandora’s box with a treasure trove of ball gags, stilettos, whips, chains, dildos and strap-ons. There’s also a tragic trio that goes comically insane.
When Araki heard that Wilde was interested in playing Erika, he made it clear what he was looking for.
“We had a meeting, and I said, “If you want to play this role, just take it without thinking,” Director Araki recalled during the Q&A after the screening. “‘Because I don’t want to compromise. I don’t want to water it down.’ And she said, ‘Let’s go.'”
Wilde said she never looked back after signing up to play an artist whose arrogance masks her waning self-confidence.
“I was very excited about Greg’s enthusiasm for the medium and the process,” Wilde said. “I wish more people would make movies like[Greg’s]. You just said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s get some cool people who want to tell the story and just do it. And it doesn’t have to be all about it and it doesn’t have to feel like this corporate project. It just has to come from the heart.’ And I wanted to be a part of something like that.”
Hoffman, who gained attention in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza, wasn’t sure he was right for the role of the clumsy toy. Araki was drawn to Hoffman because he recalled Dustin Hoffman from The Graduate and thought he could bring the same kind of brooding intensity to the role.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d be in it,” Hoffman admitted. “I just threw my hat in the ring and kept getting closer and closer. And they told me I got the job, and I thought, ‘Oh, damn. I have to do this.'” And I’m so happy I did it. ”
On the red carpet before the premiere, Wilde told Variety that Gen Z wants to see less sex in movies and TV because they “don’t want to see anything that’s not real anymore.”
“For a long time, the way sex was portrayed in movies was not very realistic,” Wilde says.
That may not be a criticism directed at Araki and his friends. The nudity and S&M implications of “I Want Your Sex” would push the R-rating to breaking point, but it was the film’s core that the cast continued to emphasize on stage.
“At the end of the day, I feel like sex is secondary,” said Chase Sui Wonders, who plays Hoffman’s best friend and roommate. “This is a story about being obsessed with someone… It’s just a tragic love story.”
Mason Gooding, Daveed Diggs and Charli XCX round out the ensemble. Black Bear is producing the film and seeking distribution. The packed auditorium was attended by executives from indie labels such as Magnolia, Roadside, and Mubi, and was so packed that Patrick Schwarzenegger was even spotted running up and down the aisles looking for an empty seat.
“I Want Your Sex” is Araki’s 11th feature film to debut at the Sundance Film Festival, and the director has previously debuted films such as “Mysterious Skin” and “The Doom Generation” at the mountain festival. Before the film screening, Araki praised Sundance founder Robert Redford, who passed away last year at the age of 89.
“There’s never been a single person in the history of Hollywood cinema who has said, ‘I want to use all of my incredible star power and all of my influence to create this place in the world for these weird filmmakers, for outsider filmmakers, for all these different voices,'” Araki said. “It’s all about DEI.”
