Cinema fans could be heading for a dry spell (Picture: Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures via AP)
Cinemagoers may have noticed this great divide in film of late, a division between copious amounts of steamy sex scenes and the celibate superhero world.
With unapologetically horny films like Saltburn, Poor Things, and the latest blockbuster hit Challengers you’d be led to believe Hollywood is incredibly hot under the collar.
However, it seems overall we’re just far less raunchy in our movies nowadays compared to even 10 years ago.
Behind the scenes, there has been an increase in awareness of actors’ agency and comfort levels around intimate scenes, with special coordinators hired to keep things professional.
It could be we’re cutting less crucial bedroom romps in favour of other displays of intimacy but the drop has been quite dramatic.
According to data in the Economist, since 2000 films have been steadily declining in the amount of ‘sex and nudity’ shown on screen – to the tune of 40%.
Despite Saltburn’s antics, films are actually getting less horny (Picture: Amazon Prime Video via AP)
The 00s saw a boom in bedroom entanglements (Picture: Barry Wetcher/New Regency/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
The top 250 films every year since 2000 were studied by Stephen Follows, a film-data analyst, and ranked on a scale of ‘none’ to ‘severe’.
This used information on movie databases as well as film-rating bodies, which will indicate if ‘scenes of a sexual nature’ have been included along with ‘nudity’.
Using the US system, anything over a PG can include nudity and intimate scenes but the MPAA does not actually have any explicit criteria for sexual content.
Sex scenes recently attracted some attention as Sag-Aftra opted to add a new amendment to their guidance for intimacy coordinators.
Much of this was spurred by conversations around a controversial sex scene between Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman given their 31-year age gap.
2011 saw not one but two films about having a friend with benefits (Picture: Cold Spring/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
A sneaky reminder that Anne Hathaway once called Gone Girl her favourite romcom (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)
Infamously 1992’s Basic Instinct had viewers up in arms over a flash of genitals but Joy Ride and No Hard Feelings, both released in 2023, featured full frontal female nudity with no notice taken.
Game of Thrones, while not a movie, was renowned for pushing the plot forward during these steamy moments with much of the world-building done in secret.
While we may be more hyper-aware of sex in cinema, we’re seeing it far less with under 50% of the highest-grossing films containing them.
This is a vast difference from the 2000s, where the vast majority – over 80% – had some sort of sex scene featured.
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Some have pointed fingers at the incredibly sexy but utterly sexless world of Marvel’s superheroes, although R-rated Deadpool (2016) certainly bucked this trend.
Thor, Captain America, and Hawkeye all have romantic interests (the latter has an entire family) but they would never dare push things beyond a respectful smooch.
Even playboy Tony Stark, who was painted as a ladies man in early iterations, was never caught with his trousers down despite his penchant for seduction.
Black Widow’s entire schtick is utilising her womanly wiles to infiltrate and defeat the bad guys but even with her Hulk romance never progressed further than implied bedroom sharing.
Marvel provides prime thirst trap candidates in a world devoid of thirst (Picture: Marvel/Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Challengers and God’s Own Country star Josh O’Connor is bringing back being horny on main (Picture: British Film Institute/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
However, at the same time, there has been an influx of very loud and proud nudity on screen – looking at you, Barry Keoghan.
Saltburn also features numerous sex scenes which caused audience members to blush, including one where the Irish icon performed oral sex on another character who was on her period.
Within Zendaya’s two most recent films fans can see this gulf between the utterly celibate (Dune) and the unabashedly horny (Challengers).
Gen Z has also been blamed for this shift, with various polls showing a preference for films without sex scenes, which are often awkwardly skipped through with parents.
Magic Mike brought sex appeal but was it actually that sex-positive? (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)
Anyone But You would be awash with needless romps had it come out 20 years before (Picture: AP)
More nuanced discussions have suggested it might not be sex we’re against but a yearning for wider depictions of intimacy, rather than a heteronormative tango between the sheets.
The driving force is likely a mix of pushback against seemingly ‘pointless’ sex scenes, with intimacy coordinators often asking why the sex on screen is needed compared to cutaways or off-screen rendevous.
That’s not to say sex scenes are dying, although the data seems to back this theory, it is instead that those that are included are much more plot-driven or crucial to the feel of the movie.
Sex for sex’s sake is no longer shocking so feels inauthentic and a waste of precious screen time, so fans would rather see it scrapped entirely.
However, if the recent big cinema hits are anything to go by, unusual stories which push the audience’s boundaries are certainly not going anywhere soon.
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