Want to see a romantic and sensual movie without suffering through barely-plausible plots that porn movies specialize in? Well, you’re in for a treat.
Erotic movies are videos that are meant to evoke an erotic reaction from its viewers. They range from romantic movies with a few erotic scenes, to art house movies that explore the erotic and sexual pursuits of the lead characters.
Sexual awakening, masturbation, BDSM, and forbidden love are just some of the themes found in erotic films. They portray erotic love in all its forms and combinations, whether it’s celebrated between men and women or between men or between women only. [Read: BDSM: What it is, 54 sexy tips, tricks & BSDM ideas to try it for the first time]
Erotic Films That You’ll Love
Erotic movies may be pornographic, but it’s not just that. Porn movies, on the other hand, are merely pornographic, with very little aesthetic or artistic value. Erotic movies combine romance with lust, while porn only deals with lust.
Movies need not be pornographic to be erotic. Contrary to popular belief, there are a number of movies that celebrate eroticism without being tagged as porn. Some are available on mainstream cinemas, while some are shown in film festivals that cater to independent movie enthusiasts. Here are just some of the most notable ones:
French Films
Nowhere in the world are art house films more sexually eloquent and daring than in France. Here are some of the best erotic films to emerge from the quaint French countryside:
1. Blue is the Warmest Color is a 2013 coming-of-age film about a French teenager, Adele, and her blue-haired friend. In the movie, Adele explores her sexual identity with the help of Emma, a girl she met in a local lesbian bar.
They eventually engage in a passionate relationship that will last for years. Loosely based on a book of the same title, the movie is a must-see as it portrays lesbian love and female-female sex in the most sensual manner. [Read: Lesbian sex: 23 positions, girl-on-girl sex secrets, myths & other must-knows]
2. The Dreamers is a 2003 drama film loosely based on the novel The Holy Innocents, written by the movie’s screenplay writer. Set in the backdrop of the 1968 Paris student riots, the movie revolves around an American university student, Matthew, and a peculiar set of twins, Theo and Isabelle, who are ardent film enthusiasts.
The twins, apparently comfortable in nudity and their sexuality, engage in various games ending in sensual dares, one of which is for Theo to masturbate in front of the other two and for Matthew to take Isabelle’s virginity. The stunning Eva Green stars as Isabelle in her film debut. [Read: Sex for the first time: 37 must-knows & secrets about losing your virginity]
3. Lady Chatterley is a sensual drama based on the erotica novel penned by D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s lover. The story features Lady Constance Chatterley, whose husband is paralyzed from the waist down.
Overcome with depression, Lady Constance engages in a steamy affair with her groundskeeper, Parkin. It is the latest of a string of films adapted from the erotic book, and is considered as the most faithful to the book’s sensual simplicity. The 2006 film has won five Césars, which may be considered the French Oscars.
4. The Lover is a 1992 French drama film featuring an illicit affair between a fifteen year old French girl and a wealthy Chinese man. Set in rural Vietnam, the two protagonists escape into a rented room in the seedy Chinese quarter, serving as their love nest.
Featuring full frontal male and female nudity and simulated lovemaking, the movie enjoyed box office success, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film in France that year.
Mexican Films
Mexico is as hot and steamy as the erotic movies that emerged from its loins. Be prepared to fan yourself when you watch these steamy delights.
1. Like Water for Chocolate is a 1992 film based on the novel of the same name, written by Laura Esquivel. Imbued with magical realism, the movie tells the story of Tita, a woman forbidden by tradition to marry, and the sensual longings that plague her.
Her emotions overwhelm her so much that they even affect the people eating whatever she cooks, leaving them in fits of lust for the person they love. At one instance, her sister had to take a shower to dissipate such lust, only for her to be kidnapped by a passing soldier and carried off naked atop a galloping horse.
The movie garnered all 11 Ariel Awards *also considered as the Mexican Oscars* including Best Picture, making it the highest-grossing Spanish film at that time.
2. Y Tu Mama Tambien is a 2001 coming-of-age film starring Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal as two teenage boys, Tenoch and Julio, in a road trip with an older woman, Luisa. The two boys engage in a little goodbye sex with their girlfriends before embarking on their own adventure in search of a famed secluded beach.
On the road, tensions arise as the two boys compete for Luisa’s seductive affections, and in the process learning about each other’s sexual transgressions with each other’s girlfriends. The three patch up their issues with a little ménage a trois, with Tenoch and Julio sharing a sensual kiss, as Luisa keeps her lips busy down below. [Read: 57 signs & rules to have a threesome & the best three way tips & positions]
3. Raging Sun, Raging Sky is a Mexican film released in 2009. The story revolves around two male lovers, Kieri and Ryo, whose mutual devotion to each other transcends even death. This sensual film involving two men won the Teddy Award, an international film award for films dealing with LGBT topics. The Teddy Award is given during the Berlin International Film Festival.
Asian Films
Asia is a continent brimming with various cultural traditions, influenced by the different countries comprising it. To most of these nations, sex remains to be a taboo subject. However, it doesn’t mean erotic movies don’t flourish in the Asian arena. Here are some of the best ones that broke free:
1. A Frozen Flower is a 2008 South Korean historical film set in the Goryeo Dynasty. In the movie, the king and the queen are bereft of a crown prince to succeed the throne. To beget a child, the king orders his lover, the military commander, to sleep with the queen.
Despite their initial hesitance, the queen and the commander follow the royal order, and in the process, develop a romantic bond that incites the king’s jealousy. The film features the sensual lovemaking between the king and the commander, as well as the passion-filled sexual trysts between the commander and the queen.
2. In the Realm of the Senses is a Japanese art film released in 1976, featuring an intense affair between a hotel owner, Ishida, and a hotel maid, Sada. The two engage in various sexual proclivities and experiments, with their mutual obsession reflected in their lovemaking. Sada’s fetish, strangulation, leads to fatal consequences.
Due to blatant sexual elements and unsimulated sexual activity in the movie, the film was made to appear to be a French enterprise to escape Japanese censorship laws. The film explores the role of eroticism in Japanese culture, as well as its implied connection to death and other morbid themes. [Read: How to be kinky: 42 steamy tips to explore sex outside of normal]
3. Lover/The Intimate is a 2005 South Korean movie about a man and a woman who decide to spend the day together, even though they have only met that day. The woman is engaged to a man she has been in a relationship with for seven years, but she finds herself aroused by a handsome stranger she has only met for the first time.
Sprinkled with passionate sex scenes in between bouts of conversation and eating, the movie portrays the inner turmoil in a woman’s mind—marrying for stability versus passionate love.
British and American Films
For those of you who would prefer to focus on the sensuality of each scene without having to read subtitles, here are a couple of British and American movies to titillate your senses.
1. 9 Songs is a British art film about the 12-month love story between a young British climatologist and an American exchange student in London.
The movie gained infamy because of the use of unsimulated sex scenes including female masturbation, vaginal intercourse, fellatio, cunnilingus, and even an ejaculation scene. The title of the movie is based on the nine songs performed by different rock artists throughout the film. [Read: How to eat a girl out: 81 oral sex tips to eat pussy & tongue her to bliss]
2. Blue Lagoon is an American romantic film released in 1980, based on a book of the same title penned by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The movie follows the sexual awakening of two individuals who were cast away on an isolated tropical island when they were young.
Without the rules of society to guide them, the two children discover love and passion and frequently indulge in its enjoyment. Fourteen-year-old Brooke Shields plays the female protagonist, while Christopher Atkins plays the male protagonist.
3. Secretary is an erotic American drama film starring James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Spader plays the role of an eccentric lawyer, E. Edward Grey, while Gyllenhaal plays a socially awkward secretary, Lee Holloway.
The movie depicts the blossoming of a dominant-submissive relationship between Edward and Lee, culminating in Lee’s declaration of her love, and Grey’s test of her submission by commanding her not to move until he comes back for her, which doesn’t happen until after a few days. It’s a far more powerful BDSM-themed love story than that other Grey story.
[Read: 50 shades of dangerous sex: The right way to get risqué]
Whether from the burning plains of Mexico, the quaint countryside of France, or the contemporary backdrop of an American city, erotic movies evoke similar feelings of arousal in its viewers. They arouse in us not just romance or lust, but also awareness and sensitivity to the various permutations that erotic love takes. Indulge in these movies by yourself or with your partner, and celebrate Eros in all its lustful forms.