Actor/director Olivia Wilde and gay filmmaker Gregg Araki are each, in their own way, having quite a year. Wilde’s “The Invite,” which she directed and stars in alongside Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz, and Edward Norton, is a hit. Meanwhile, in August, Araki’s 2004 masterwork “Mysterious Skin,” a movie adaptation of the Scott Heim novel starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and actor-turned-director Brady Corbet, is being rereleased in theaters in a new 4K restoration.
Now, Wilde and Araki have teamed up for the kooky erotic comedy “I Want Your Sex” (Magnolia). Commenting on everything from the contemporary art world, submissive sex, inappropriate sexual relationships in the workplace, gay promiscuity, cancel culture, and murder, Araki’s reach almost, but not quite, exceeds his grasp.
Elliot (nepo baby Cooper Hoffman) is a young, straight guy who is as much rizz as a bowl of room-temperature vanilla pudding. He has an overactive imagination, a bored and intellectually superior girlfriend named Minerva (Charli XCX), and to his surprise, a new job working as an assistant to visual artist (and dominatrix) Erika (Wilde).
Before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s essential to point out that as the movie begins, Elliot, with a bloody nose and dressed in pink lingerie, is pulling what he thinks is Erika’s corpse out of her pool and trying to revive her. We are then transported to “9½ weeks ago…,” (get it?), when Elliot and hot (!) and gay fellow assistant Zap (Mason Gooding almost making up for his father Cuba’s catastrophic 2002 movie “Boat Trip”) are working at Erika’s gallery, under the watchful eye of Vikktor (Daveed Diggs).
Shortly thereafter, Elliot and Erika begin a sexual relationship in which Elliot becomes her sub. Don’t get too excited, because this aspect is played strictly for laughs and has zero erotic heat. Even when Erika suggests a three-way and Elliot brings his roommate Apple (Chase Sui Wonders) along for what turns out to be a bumpy ride, the sex is played for (uncomfortable) laughs.
Scenes of Elliot’s interrogation by detectives Zola (Margaret Cho) and Zem (Johnny Knoxville), following his panicked 911 call when he discovered Erika in the pool, break up some of the monotony. But nothing is as it seems, and Erika’s missing corpse only deepens the mystery.
Wilde is even wilder in “I Want Your Sex” than she is in “The Invite,” but her performance is a little hollow. It’s actually Gooding’s portrayal of Zap that’s the most appealing. He’s the one who brings the zip to his scenes, which includes a generous helping of his biceps, abs, and handsome face.
Rating: C+
