Written and directed by Gregg Araki, starring Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Mason Gooding, and Chase Sui Wonders. Araki co-wrote the screenplay and jointly produced the erotic sex comedy-thriller with Karley Sciortino, marking their second collaboration after the short-lived series Now Apocalypse in 2019. A pioneer of the New Queer Cinema movement, Araki made a grand feature film return after a twelve-year gap with his eleventh Sundance premiere.
I Want Your Sex is focused on an aimless young man, Elliot (Cooper Hoffman), whose sexual fantasies come true when he becomes entangled in a BDSM relationship dynamic with his new boss, Erica Tracy (Olivia Wilde), during an internship at an esteemed art gallery.
Araki is not afraid to challenge audiences’ perceptions of sex, romance, and identity by highlighting the generational gap in the attitudes and practices of sex between Gen Z and Millennials which sparked the inspiration of the film and is the catalyst in the story as Hoffman and Wilde play at each against other in a silly yet twisted cat-and-mouse game that keeps you at the edge of your seat.
Araki introduced the film, thanking the cast for their hard work on the production. “I want to thank [the] amazing, fearless, incredible cast. This has been the most important cast I’ve ever worked with. It’s such an ensemble. Everybody is such a trooper. It was a very tight shoot. Very crazy. We were doing like hardcore sex scenes on day one and day two, so people decided to jump right in… Thank you so much for going on this journey with me,” he said.
Wilde came out to support the first of her two features at the festival, pulling double duty as director and star of The Invite. Wilde discussed how grateful she was to work with Araki, a standout in his field.
“I was just so excited by Gregg’s enthusiasm for the media, for the process. I wish more people made movies like you. You just said, let’s do it. Let’s get cool people together if you want to tell a story; let’s just do it. And it doesn’t have to be a whole thing. It doesn’t have to feel like this corporate project.”
Wilde continued, “It has to just come from the heart. And I wanted to be a part of something like that. And it’s so much about the spirit of Sundance, of course.”
Wilde stated she felt that she needed to get involved in the project as she loved the script. Impressed with Araki and Sciortino’s writing, calling it “smart and fun and playful.”
“And the idea of.. Just having to laugh and talking about things that are real topics, but putting it within the Trojan Horse is just like joyful comedy. And then, I was just really excited to work with Cooper,” she said.
Hoffman expressed that he was initially nervous about the prospect of his casting, “I honestly didn’t think I’d get cast. So I just threw my hat in the ring and kept getting closer and closer. And then they said | got the job.”
Then, when his casting was confirmed, he went from nervousness to hesitancy. The role of Elliot is unlike any other role he’s taken on. Fortunately for him, this risk turned out to lead to a memorable experience for the 22-year-old actor.
“And I was like, ‘Ah, shit. I gotta go do this.’ And I’m very happy I did it. I’m very happy I threw my hat in the ring. And I’m just happy to be a part of this movie and be up here with these guys.”
Wilde talked about the dynamic of her and Hoffman’s characters, Erika and Elliot, that transforms over the course of the film.
“We talked about how the Elliot-Erica relationship had to be so much more than just, you know, dom-sub. Like, there had to be something that made you actually weirdly in a teeny tiny way room for them and to feel that they had actual chemistry and kind of loved each other.”
Wilde reflected on the early stages of the production, before Hoffman’s casting, on which actor could bring Elliot to life. She compared Hoffman’s performance to Dustin Hoffman’s in The Graduate, two actors who were rightfully cast in their roles for their respective films.
“We’ve been talking so much about who Elliot could be, the whole movie, you know, rested upon this really. And we talked so much about The Graduate. And we actually talked about the fact that Robert Redford almost played that role in The Graduate. And then it went to Dustin Hoffman. And it’s such an interesting thing. It would have changed the entire movie.”
Araki is one of the filmmakers ingrained in the legacy of Sundance, as his work has been constantly championed and screened by the festival. He spoke about the festival’s late founder, the actor-director Robert Redford.
“You think about somebody like Redford, it’s like, I don’t know how he ever even came up with the idea or the concept for Sundance. To create this place in the world for those fucking weird filmmakers, those alicenoric movies, those different voices…”
Apple (Sui Wonders) is the roommate of Hoffman’s Elliot. Sui Wonders talked about how she has been a fan of Araki’s forever. And despite working on a film that consists largely of sexual scenes, while not amused with it in other films, this one, in comparison, felt different.
“And, you know, I feel like a bit of a prude in the sense that I don’t love to see sex on screen all the time. But ultimately, the sex feels secondary. And so it’s a real love story. It’s a story of being obsessed with someone, and that taking over your whole life. And that really hit me today. It’s just a tragic love story.”
Gooding stated that he was instantly attracted to join the film after seeing the eclectic line-up of actors and actresses.
“You see, Chase, Olivia, Cooper, Charlie in a movie, and you do the fucking picture. Working with Gregg, you engage with his infectious understanding of personhood and a showcase of identity that meant whatever choice you make as an actor is showcased in such a compelling way that you ultimately trust from the moment you start working with him to the very end.”
After a positive reception at the festival, sitting at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
I Want Your Sex was acquired by Magnolia Pictures on Feb. 10th with a release date to be announced.
