I Want Your Sex: a trashy and neon comedy (review)
After twelve years of absence, Gregg Araki stages the delightful Olivia Wilde-Cooper Hoffman duo with insane energy. A tasty sour candy if not unforgettable.
Time flies: Gregg Araki hasn’t made a feature film since White Bird, 12 years ago. But for him, nothing has changed: I Want Your Sex redeploys its desires for trashy and neon comedy. The colors may be a bit washed out but the desire to capture the spirit of the times is still there. In this case, via an erotic farce about art and predation, where a nymphomaniac contemporary artist (Olivia Wilde) transforms her young and kind assistant (Cooper “Licorice Pizza” Hoffman) into a sex slave. The film opens with the discovery of a body in a swimming pool, à la Sunset Boulevard, and the police investigation which ensues allows the action to rewind. A slightly lazy structure which can be excused thanks to the very amusing cartoon introducing the first flashback: “Nine and a half weeks earlier”…
The whole film is like that: its sometimes approximate socio-comments and its conventional caricature of the art world are constantly saved by the disconcerting and joyfully inconsistent mood that reigns there. And, above all, by the insane energy of its actors: Olivia Wilde is unleashed as Mrs Robinson SM and Cooper Hoffman, with an irresistible burlesque awkwardness, both funny and moving. Reasons enough to taste this tangy candy, and too bad if we forget it quickly after having savored it.
By Gregg Araki. With Olivia Wilde, Dominic Cooper, Charli XCX… Duration: 1h30. Released July 29, 2026
