Judging by the crowd on Saturday night, the idea that Gen Z is not interested in sex is overstated. Certainly, that’s the thesis of Gregg Araki’s new film which prescribes loosening up and letting go of your puritanical hangups as a cure for being directionless and miserable all the time.
The setup is certainly echoing a classic story. The film opens with a body face down in a swimming pool and then flashes back to see how we got there. It flashes back with a cheeky 9 1/2 weeks earlier title. And then we’re shown the story of how a young, rather naive young man, has a torrid affair with an older, possibly fading celebrity. It deliberately echoes Sunset Boulevard and other film noir setups albeit the stories deviate quite a bit. For one thing, Olivia Wilde’s Erika Tracy is miles away from Gloria Swanson’s Norma Desmond in demeanor and actually seems fun to be around. For another, Cooper Hoffman’s Elliott, caught up in a frigid relationship with his girlfriend as portrayed by Charli XCX seems like he need’s Gregg Araki’s prescription.
The result, despite a copious amount of BDS&M scenarios, is a throwback more to classic farce than tragedy. There were plenty of laughs to be had and it was a colorful confection of a film. I use the phrase too much, but Olivia Wilde appears to be having the time of her life playing a modern artist playing in the same pop landscape as 1990s Madonna. Cooper Hoffman continues to show that he’s one of the most talented actors of his generation creating enough empathy and finding a way to make Elliott endearing instead of pathetic. And there are fun turns by the likes of Charli XCX and Chase Sui Wonders as well as several fun cameos. It was a definite crowd-pleaser.
Yet, my question is whether Gregg Araki actually fulfilled the promise of his thesis. And, I ended up with mixed feelings in that regard.
Part of those mixed feelings coming down to whether I thought the relationship between Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman fully worked. There’s undeniable chemistry between the two and it certainly looks like they’re both having fun as two consenting adults. But there are numerous aspects of the relationship that are troubling including the fact that Erika is Elliott’s boss. He may be up for it, but there’s a clear power imbalance here and I don’t believe that’s merely a modern hangup. Especially when you couple it with questions of consent and trust. Erika demonstrates on more than one occasion that she can’t be fully trusted, she’s almost a sociopath at times. There’s raw sex between the two, but real intimacy isn’t there at all. Maybe a few cracks in the facade appear, but that’s a far cry from an actual relationship. Thankfully, the film never suggests that as a real possibility, but Cooper Hoffman appears more to be a toy to be used and then discarded as part of their sexual escapades than an actual romantic partner.
And, honestly, that their relationship is fun but shallow isn’t a bad idea. It doesn’t negate the thesis. But, casting it in the mode of a film noir, plot-wise but not thematically, calls into question whether the scenario is consequence free fun or a warning against getting involved with someone you can’t fully trust. The latter works against the film’s thesis. And frankly, the film isn’t solidly enough constructed to fully defend itself against alternative readings.
Not to mention, I wonder if the film is as “of the moment” as it purports to be. The art satire was tired in the 1990s. What Erika Tracy has to say about sex feels like it hasn’t progressed a bit from Madonna. There are gay stereotypes in the movie that seem to have been frozen in time since the 1990s. Can you really speak to Gen Z without being actually current?
But, maybe that’s not fully its job. Perhaps it’s just enough to get people in the doors, have a good time, and have them discuss it afterwards. As entertainment it’s a clear success. But the hard work of prompting generational change is going to need a lot of help from the actual generation.
The 2026 Milwaukee Film Festival runs from April 16, 2026 until May 30, 2026. I WANT YOUR SEX will play two more times; Friday, April 24, 2026 at 7:30 pm at the Oriental Theatre and Saturday, April 25, 2026 at 11:30 pm at the Downer Theatre. Tickets to PUBLIC ACCESS and other upcoming films can be purchased at MKEFILM.ORG.
