A sexy movie doesn’t have to be all-out erotica. The slow burn of sexual tension, attractive people going about their business of doing attractive things, and new explorations of intimacy are what make a great one. From beefed-up boys fighting in slo-mo to Jennifer Lopez teaching Constance Wu how to work a pole, these steamy movies are perfect for a date, whether you’re watching them while socially distancing yourself or cuddled up together on the couch. Below, catch up on the hottest movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and more.
Hustlers (2019)
Based on a New York Times article, this critically-acclaimed movie stars Jennifer Lopez, Constance Wu, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart and Julia Stiles. Destiny (Constance Wu) is a stripper who is in desperate need of a job and money to support herself and her child. She reconnects with her former mentor Ramona (Lopez), who is running a shady scheme to target rich and sleazy businessmen and conning them for money. Things, obviously, turn south pretty quickly. What is the reason for it to be placed on this list, you ask? Lopez pole dances to Fiona Apple, that's what.
Streaming on Apple TV
Amar (2017)
In this Spanish drama, young lovers Laura and Carlos discover the intensity and delicateness of first love as the real life threatens to tarnish their budding romance when the two search for their place in the world. The tag line of the movie says it best with ‘Young love and its complications in modern-day Spain’.
Streaming on Netflix
Lust Stories (2018)
This anthology of four stories marks the second collaboration of four of Bollywood’s most noted filmmakers, Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar and Dibakar Banerjee. The featured stories are a nuanced take on modern love and sex from the viewpoint of the Indian woman. There’s Kashyap’s darkly funny short with Radhika Apte, where she plays the role of a college professor who becomes involved with one of her students. Akhtar’s short has Bhumi Pednekar as a maid who is in a sexual relationship with the bachelor whose house she works at. Banerjee’s short film has Manisha Koirala as an emotionally abused wife who gets into an extramarital affair with her husband’s best friend. And then there’s Karan Johar’s short with Kiara Advani, playing a sexually dissatisfied young wife who has discovered the joys of pleasing herself.
Streaming on Netflix
Us and Them (2018)
Two strangers from a small rural town—the ambitious Jianqing and the charming Xiaoxiao—meet on a train and form a bond that slowly evolves over a year as they try to find happiness together in the face of economical, social, familial, and romantic adversity. This film is the directorial debut of Chinese singer-actor Rene Liu. It deals with modern love, missed opportunities and coming-of-age issues.
Streaming on Netflix
Bang Bang (2014)
Harleen’s (Katrina Kaif) monotonous life as a bank clerk who lives with her grandmother in Dehradun, gets turned upside down when she runs into a sexy and mysterious stranger (Hrithik Roshan). He takes her on a wild adventure ride, filled with people chasing them with guns and deserted islands. This Bollywood adaptation of Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz’s Knight and Day was as action-packed and twisty as you would expect. The duo's crackling chemistry paired with the exotic locales was enough to distract one from the shaky plot that was riddled with holes.
Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar
Newness (2017)
This one navigates the world of millennials, online dating and open relationships. Martin (Nicholas Hoult) and Gabriella (Laia Costa) meet through an app and begin dating each other. The unresolved baggage that each of them carries leads to cracks in their relationship. Couples therapy encourages them to explore the option of open relationships.
Streaming on Netflix
Duck Butter (2018)
Naima (Alia Shawkat) and Sergio (Laia Costa) bond over their common past of broken relationships and dishonesty, when they meet at a club. They decide to spend a full day, uninterrupted, of being completely honest with each other, while having sex on the hour. They want to experiment with a new form of intimacy, but things don’t go quite as well as they’ve been planned.
Streaming on Netflix
A Simple Favor (2018)
Director Paul Fieg’s stylish, suburban-noir revolves around single mom and popular blogger Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), who befriends the strange and mysterious Emily (Blake Lively), the mother of Stephanie’s son’s new friend at school. Emily is everything Stephanie wants to be—super successful, glamorous, and married to a rich and handsome guy. But their lives are turned upside down when Emily disappears without a trace, leading Stephanie to investigate the life of her secretive best friend. Lively wears a ton of men’s suits and makes mid-day martinis. Enough said.
Streaming on Apple TV
Don Jon (2013)
Jon Martello (Joseph Gorden-Levitt) is a bartender who knows his priorities, namely his friends, family, church, sexcapades and porn. He has trouble making meaningful connections with the women he is in a relationship with and is addicted to watching porn. He is happy and content until he meets Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), who inspires him to change his ways and begin a journey of true love with her. The only problem? He can’t seem to give up on his erotica addiction.
Streaming on Netflix
Pretty Woman (1990)
This classic romcom has no business being one of the sexiest romcoms out there, but Vivian and Edward’s unconventional courtship is as sexy as it is swoon-worthy. Vivian (Julia Roberts) is a prostitute who gets hired by ruthless businessman Edward (Richard Gere) to accompany him to a few social events. Things don’t stay as casual as they planned for them to be and they fall in love with each other. But would they be able to overcome the seemingly insurmountable gap between their two different worlds? The movie is a classic, you should know the answer to that one.
Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar
Dry Martina (2018)
In this Argentinian comedy, Martina (Antonella Costa) is a formerly-famous 35-year-old singer who gets dumped; and loses her voice and once ravenous sex drive. Things change when a woman claiming to be her half-sister shows up unexpectedly, leading Martina on a wild adventure to Chile on the search for her true parentage, and to get rid of her dry spell. As you can expect, there’s a lot of sex and steam, paired with a lot of ‘dry’ humour.
Streaming on Netflix
Also read:
6 erotic films you should be streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video
16 underrated rom-coms only true lovers of the genre will know about
