The Idol just gave us ‘the worst sex scene in history’, but what about the best ones?
Movie sex scenes are on our minds. Question is, did they ever really leave our minds?
They can be cringe, they can be complete wish fulfilment. But sex scenes are pretty much always worth talking about. Controversial TV show The Idol (brainchild of Euphoria's Sam Levinson) has just been dubbed as having “the worst sex scene in history”, which is quite an accolade to behold.
So we decided to take a trip down memory (or masturbation) lane and pick out the best movie sex scenes out there, from characters of all sexualities and age groups.
Yes, of course there's the rain scene in The Notebook and Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez in Unfaithful, but there's also some you may have forgotten about or missed: like Angelina Jolie in Gia, or Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton's characters in Monster Ball.
And better yet, you'll find films to get stuck into that are about way more than their sexy scenes.
These are the steamiest movie sex scenes ever…
The Blackpink star is in her villain era.
Warner BrosDon't Worry Darling
We can't deny that Olivia Wilde's latest offering was divisive, but what we did enjoy was her conscious prioritisation of female pleasure, that doesn't often happen on or off screen. The decision to show Harry Styles' character Jack going down on and fingering Pugh's Alice was not only super hot, but a feminist statement that there's more to life than penetrative sex.
CurzonPortrait Of A Lady On Fire
Details of Marianne (Noémie Merlant) and Héloïse's (Adèle Haenel) sex scene are shown subtly and sparingly on screen, a purposeful decision by writer and director Céline Sciamma, but we do see the pair applying herbal hallucinogen drug to each other’s armpits, which looks like their fingers are touching something else. Clever, creative, sexy.
Marvel TelevisionJessica Jones
The moment Jessica and Luke had bed-breaking sex was a MOMENT for us all. We may dream of achieving such heights, but these guys did it, and we have a tasty sex scene to enjoy because of it.
NetflixOrange Is The New Black
Alex and Piper find time (and places) for some pretty hot sex throughout the series, including in the shower and some amazing argument-to-passionate-sex action in the prison library. We commend them completely.
LionsgateGood Luck To You, Leo Grande
Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack as a widow and sex worker respectively bring the heat, particularly when we see Emma's character eventually find her own pleasure through masturbation, with much encouragement and body worship from her partner.
Element Pictures / Enda BoweNormal People
Giving us all some form of a sexual re-awakening with its release in lockdown, Normal People got us all going with Connell (Paul Mescal) and Marianne's (Daisy Edgar-Jones) raw sexual connection throughout this young years. Do you know what made their sex scenes throughout the series the most compelling? The way they portrayed it, awkwardness and all.
1996-98 AccuSoft Inc., All rights reservedWhen Harry Met Sally
Although not technically a sex scene persé, this scene is famous for being a sexy scene to say the least. After all, what's hotter than having (or faking) an orgasm in public? In the movie, Sally begins to moan, when Harry asks her if she's okay. “Oh, God,” Sally says, before her moans get louder. Sally then slaps the table, and screams “Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Entertainment FilmBrokeback Mountain
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall got steamy in this heartbreaking love story. The most memorable sex scene from this award-winning movie was when the pair were in a tent together. The scene comprised of some spit for lubrication and a few minutes of grunting. There are plenty of romantic scenes throughout the movie though, too. When the film was released, it was groundbreaking to see two men playing lovers – luckily things have progressed a little more since then.
PSO international9 1/2 Weeks
This incredibly sexy movie starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke, is a surefire way to get pulses racing. Throughout the film the pair have quite a lot of sex, but the most memorable scene full of sensual innuendos and lust, has got to be the infamous food scene. This movie is pro-kink, so a perfect movie for those with fetishes.
©DisneyPretty Woman
Pretty Woman is an unlikely love story that contains many steamy and romantic scenes. The piano scene between Julia Roberts and Richard Gere was overflowing with sexual tension. It has been said that the scene had to be trimmed because it was too sexual, even though there was no nudity.
ANDREW COOPERTwilight Breaking Dawn
Throughout the Twilight franchise were all waiting patiently for Edward and Bella to get intimate, but each time we thought they were close, Edward backed away. It wasn't until the final two movies, after the couple got hitched, that the pair finally had sex. But oh boy was it worth the wait. With the bed breaking, it was a steamy scene for sure.
© 20th Century FoxUnfaithful
Steamy and erotic, Connie (played by Diane Lane) cheats on her husband (played by Richard Gere), when she sleeps with a French bookseller, Paul (played by Olivier Martinez). The affair is hot and steamy, as well as completely wrong. Which kind of makes it even sexier.
© MMIV New Line Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.The Notebook
We all remember *THAT* scene in The Notebook. Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams and a massive rainstorm? We are SOLD. The most amazingly passionate sex scene ever? We think so. Need we say anymore?
entertainment filmMonster Ball
Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton's classic sex scene was steamy, sensual and everything you could wish for from this award-winning movie. Billy Bob Thornton spoke with The Huffington Post about the sex scene, saying it “felt real” to him. According to The Guardian, Halle Berry was relieved that she would not have to reshoot the sequence.
She famously said: “We both agreed to be uninhibited with our bodies, so it wasn’t just the woman who was being exposed, and we just said, ‘Let’s service these characters.’ We only had to do it one time, which is good, because you don’t really want to have to go there that many times…”
Home Box Office (HBO)Gia
Angelina Jolie's portrayal of supermodel Gia Carangi in the 1998 movie Gia was sultry, sexy and full of passion – just like the sex scenes throughout the movie. Some of the most famous scenes were when Angelina's character partook in sex with co-star Elizabeth Mitchell. Hooray for lesbian representation.
Universal PicturesThe Photograph (2020)
Anyone who watches Insecure will know that Issa Rae isn't one to shy away from a steamy sex scene and things are no different in her 2020 movie, The Photograph.
The romance drama, available on Amazon Prime, is an intimate love story between Issa's character Mae, and Michael, played by LaKeith Stanfield and let's just say there are plenty of passionate moments.
Speaking how she navigates sex scenes, Issa told Covetuer: “I prepare just as I would for real sex. It might be TMI, but I just want to make sure that I’m presentable in all areas. I want to make sure that I smell great, and I also want to make that if my partner doesn’t smell great, that I smell good enough for the both of us. But thankfully that’s never happened.”
Moonlight (2016)
Barry Jenkins' Oscar-winning movie, Moonlight, told a beautiful story of Black love, masculinity and homosexuality in a way never seen on-screen before. One sex scene in particular, which takes place during the teen years of protagonists Chiron (first played by Ashton Sanders) and Kevin (first played by Jharrel Jerome) became a standout.
“It’s the first time I filmed a sex scene. It’s the first time these actors had performed a sex scene,” Jenkins told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “It’s not gratuitous. It’s very delicate in keeping with most of the film, but it kept me up at night. I really wanted to get the feelings of that first sort of sexual expression, and I wanted to get it right… but then, when we got to shoot it, it rolled off like butter.”
Lionsgate UKAmmonite (2020)
Starring Saoirse Ronan and Kate Winslet, Ammonite tells the story of Mary Anning, an acclaimed fossil hunter, who is forced to care for a rich visitor's sick wife. The two form an intense bond that forces them to address the romantic feelings between and embark on a secret relationship.
Saoirse revealed that the sex scene in the film was actually filmed on her 25th birthday. Speaking to The Mirror, the Irish actor said: “I had a wonderful time. I’ve never done a sex scene so intense and full-on before. But to be able to do that with her [Kate]… I did feel very safe, like we could go anywhere with it.”
