The Sexiest Movies of the 21st Century?

IndieWire’s Sexiest Movies of the 21st Century list is filled with quotas and has an all-encompassing inclusive nature to it. In other words, it’s the perfect example of why American cinema has been, in fact, so sexless these last 10 or so years.

EDIT — I should have been more precise with my argument. There are many films listed in the IW list that just aren’t sexy or sensual at all, which, I gather, has to do with the lack of actual “sexy” movies to choose from this century. I’m thinking of “Zola,” “X,” “Hustle and Flow,” “Promising Young Woman,” “American Honey,” and “Ex Machina,” among others.

There’s sexual politeness, and politicking, to the sex-based movies being released this decade, so much so that they tend to completely neglect actual on-screen eroticism in favor of socio-topical resonance.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s the erotic thriller was all the rage. It’s a genre that is all but dead now. There has been a decline in eroticism and sexuality for a few years now at the movies. The mid-budget movie has all but transferred onto television, where sex is more present. It’s not just that, the #MeToo movement has brought about a ton of pressure on directors, in terms of how to depict sex in non-offensive [and safe] ways.

It's much harder now for a male director to depict sex on screen without being accused of using his own "male gaze.” Even the emergence of gay cinema has barely gone past a few seconds of tame sex, such as in "Brokeback Mountain" and Timothee Chalamet's love for a peach and Armie in "Call Me By Your Name"

“Y Tu Mama Tambien,” “Secretary,” “Sex and Lucía,” “Unfaithful,” “Nymphomaniac,” “The Handmaiden,” “In the Mood For Love,” “Stranger By the Lake,” “The Piano Teacher,” “Magic Mike”

With that being said, World of Reel’s 10 sexiest movies of the 21st Century would include the following:

“Swimming Pool”, “Unfaithful”, “Mulholland Drive”, “Y Tu Mama Tambien,” “Blue is the Warmest Color,” “The Handmaiden,” “Carol”, “Disobedience”, “Black Swan” and “The Dreamers.”

You know what deserves to be on this list? “Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo,” but most of you will never get to see it in your lifetimes because its director has been plagued in MeToo controversies.

Other worthy titles missing on IW’s list include “Monster’s Ball,” “Lust, Caution,” “Bang Bang (A Modern Love Story)” “Benedetta,” “9 Songs,” “Rust and Bone,” “I Am Love,” “Perfume,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “Chloe.”

Of course, one of the most memorable, and hysterical, sex scenes ever put on film this century is in “Team America: World Police,” but there is nothing erotic about ridiculously over-the-top puppet sex, so …

Remember, this is strictly 21st Century filmmaking, otherwise you’d have the likes of “Don’t Look Now”, “Persona”, “In the Realm of Senses”, “Belle de Jour”, “Last Tango in Paris”, and “Romance” added in.