The 12 Best Erotic Movies of the 21st Century (So Far)

Few genres get dismissed as quickly, or as unfairly, as the erotic film. The label is as broad as the concept itself, lacking the many microgenres that could help narrow it down. Moreover, the genre arguably saw its heyday in the ’60s and ’70s. However, the 21st century has quietly produced some of the most daring, beautiful, and genuinely provocative work the genre has ever seen. This includes evolving with culture, pushing further exploration of taboo subjects, and a general revitalization of the genre, with filmmakers tackling it in new ways.

The genre has immense depth, so I tried not to focus solely on thrillers or critical darlings, looking at the moods and styles of different regions to compile a list of the best erotic films of the 21st century. There are bound to be plenty here you have never heard of, but will want to check out if you are a fan of or interested in understanding the depth found under the often maligned erotic label.

Why You Should Trust Me: Having written about movies for over a decade, I began by focusing on international erotic films and have remained interested in the genre ever since. Also, I understand that ratings for erotic films are not always indicative of their quality, so while you have the IMDb and Letterboxd scores below, I drew on personal experience to help navigate the best of the best.

Honorable Mentions

These are a few movies many fans would expect to see on this list, and they are utterly phenomenal. However, to offer some variety, I am giving these must-watch erotic films an honorable mention here:

• Y Tu Mamá También (2001): Alfonso Cuarón’s road-trip masterpiece exploring class, morality and sex. Its frankness makes it feel authentic, and its final act will resonate with you long after the credits roll.
• Lust, Caution (2007): Ang Lee’s wartime espionage drama uses explicit scenes as psychological warfare. Vital viewing for understanding how erotica can be used to craft a larger story through subtext.
• The Handmaiden (2016): Park Chan-wook’s ravishing con-artist thriller is the modern gold standard, erotic, dark but never exploitative. If you have already seen one international erotic film on this list, it is likely this South Korean critical and fan darling.

‘The Voyeurs’ (2021)

A Slick, Twisty Peeping-Tom Thriller

A young couple (Sydney Sweeney and Justice Smith) move into a loft with a view of the apartment across the street. Here, they observe the other couple’s sexually charged relationship, slowly becoming obsessed and more involved. What starts as harmless curiosity spirals into guilt-ridden voyeurism and the unraveling of a relationship.

I wanted to start with the most accessible and entertaining modern-day erotic film, as this one may be a bit simplistic, but its plot is twisty and salacious in the best sense. The movie also serves as a throwback to ’90s erotica (one of the best and most overlooked decades in the genre) in both style and tone, albeit with modern visual polish. This is a solid entry anchored by great performances from Sydney Sweeney and Justice Smith that helped renew interest in American-made erotic films.

‘Babygirl’ (2024)

Power, Submission, and a Career-Best Kidman

Nicole Kidman plays a high-powered CEO who begins a reckless affair with a much younger intern (Harris Dickinson), giving her a means to explore her sexuality and revel in something that she does not control in her strictly structured life. Halina Reijn’s film is less interested in the mechanics of the affair than in the messy psychology of a woman finally admitting what she wants.

Kidman is fearless here, proving that despite her prestige, she is willing to experiment with challenging roles. What separates this one from your Fifty Shades of Grey-style BDSM play is the movie’s more positive view of one woman’s sexuality, portraying kink without shame. The chemistry is great, and the story has those flights of erotic fancy, but it is more grounded in relatable raw emotion than many others taking this approach.

‘A Snake of June’ (2002)

A Monochrome Erotic Fever Dream

Shinya Tsukamoto is one of the greatest directors of our age. I will fight anyone on that point. Not necessarily breaking into the mainstream like others, Tsukamoto created the landmark cyberpunk experimental film Tetsuo: The Iron Man, and has only grown as a filmmaker since then. This time, his obsession with the body still exists, but he frames it with an erotic lens, creating a hypnotic, monochrome story of a couple who find themselves blackmailed by a stalker, who uses the opportunity to force the two to get in touch with their sexual desires.

A hallucinatory work with stunning visuals and flairs of experimental storytelling and imagery, there is nothing quite like A Snake of June. The movie is a deeply introspective meditation on shame, control, and repressed sexuality. It can feel grimy at times, but it is oddly beautiful, even as it explores more perverse desires. This is erotic cinema as sensory overload, all pounding rain, industrial dread, and raw psychological intensity. It’s not an easy watch, but for adventurous viewers, it is a treat, and you can easily get swept up in the visuals even if the abstract storytelling does not land for you.

‘Stranger by the Lake’ (2013)

Desire and Death by the Water’s Edge

Alain Guiraudie’s Cannes-winning thriller unfolds at a lakeside cruising spot in rural France, where Franck (Pierre Deladonchamps) becomes infatuated with the handsome and magnetic Michel (Christophe Paou). Their growing relationship is not so straightforward, as Franck has witnessed Michel commit murder and still decides to pursue him, blurring the lines of danger and desire.

Stranger by the Lake delivers Hitchcockian suspense, blending dread and explicit eroticism. The single-location film fully immerses viewers in the dangerous and sensual relationship, where sex becomes a tool for survival. This is queer arthouse cinema at its boldest, and it rewards viewers who come into it with an open mind. Guiraudie won Best Director in Un Certain Regard and the Queer Palm at Cannes, and the film stands as a touchstone of modern erotica for its ability to build deeper stories within the genre.

‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ (2022)

Two People, One Room, Endless Warmth

A retired, widowed schoolteacher (Emma Thompson) hires a young sex worker (Daryl McCormack) to meet her in a hotel room, armed with a checklist of the sexual experiences and highs that her marriage never gave her. However, their planned romp becomes something deeper, as Emma Thompson’s character uses the encounter to learn about connection, self-acceptance, and the empowering radicalism of reclaiming sexual desire at her age.

Not all erotic films need deep emotional weight or conflict, and what works so exceptionally well here is how gentle, honest, and charming Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is. Age-gap romance movies can get a bit mucky, but the film thrives on Thompson’s performance, particularly a deeply self-reflective moment in which she bares her body in admiration. This one is a feel-good film and a great entry point for those who are a bit squeamish about overly erotic content, letting you dip your toes into the genre.

‘The Samurai’ (2014)

Desire as Feral Awakening

Till Kleinert’s Der Samurai is an outlier here that definitely will need some framing, so stick with me. The Samurai is a German queer horror-fantasy about a small-town cop (Michel Diercks) who finds himself tracking down a katana-wielding stranger in a wedding dress (Pit Bukowski). The stranger may or may not represent the cop’s desires, with the film maintaining a dreamlike ambiguity while weaving homoerotic undertones throughout its bizarre story.

The Samurai is a wild, genre-melting psychosexual dive through repression, finally exploding into the open. The blood-soaked atmosphere and interactions between the cop and killer become undeniably erotic without showing much affection between the two. It’s the curveball of the bunch, and won’t be for everyone, but it endures as one of my personal favorite films of the 2010s. Its rating (arguably) comes from people not knowing what to expect, as the film subverts expectations; it is horrific, yes, but it is not a conventional horror movie, touching instead on profound themes of sexual longing and denial. Pit Bukowski’s performance is also a spectacle of sexual tension and violence that needs to be seen.

‘The Duke of Burgundy’ (2014)

A Sumptuous Study of Love and Power

Peter Strickland’s elegant and sleek drama follows two women: a famed lepidopterist (someone who captures and studies butterflies and moths) and her maid. The two are locked in an elaborate, ritualized dominant-submissive relationship. The film presents domination without sex, but oozes with erotic energy. There is an underlying mystery that also runs through the film, keeping audiences guessing about the relationship dynamic.

Gorgeously shot and surprisingly tender given its focus on ritualized humiliation, The Duke of Burgundy digs into the love between the two women and the obsession they share with gripping dramatic flair. Peter Strickland is still one of the most underrated directors working today, with his movies always brimming with style and depth. With this film, he turns his fine eye for detail to conjure a lush, perfumed, entirely self-contained world.

‘Aroused by Gymnopedies’ (2016)

A Melancholy Ode to Classic Japanese Erotica

Nikkatsu erotic films and the low-budget V-cinema of Japan started my obsession with international cinema; lush productions that approached eroticism with an exciting energy and class (though also sometimes a lack thereof). A project celebrating the Roman Porno era of Japanese erotica brought many directors together to pay homage with their own interpretations. Anyone who knows what I am talking about will probably be aghast that I picked this entry over Sion Sono’s Antiporno, but Isao Yukisada’s Aroused by Gymnopedies is such a gorgeously drifting yet somber story reflective of culture’s growing disinterest in sexuality.

Beautiful, melancholic, and scored to Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, the film carries a mood that is easy to just sink into. Itsuji Itao stars as the heartbroken director at its center, and his wanderings through the world of erotica are marked by a malaise befitting a fading era of cinema. This is a tender film with a tragic ending, so be ready for some sorrow intertwined with its dreamy eroticism.

‘Swimming Pool’ (2003)

Sun-Drenched Mystery and Simmering Envy

Few directors return to the erotic as often, or as confidently, as François Ozon, and Swimming Pool remains one of his best works. The film centers around Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling), a burnt-out English crime novelist, who retreats to her publisher’s villa to start her next book. However, the arrival of his free-spirited daughter Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) disrupts her peace as Julie begins bringing men home. Sarah watches, judges, and slowly gets pulled in until an act of violence blurs the line between reality and the story she is writing.

Rampling and Sagnier are a mesmerizing study in contrasts, playing off each other brilliantly. The result is an erotically-charged game where it is hard to say who is really manipulating whom. I still go back and forth on what the ending actually means, and that ambiguity is the point; you will want to watch Swimming Pool more than once. For those who love the classics, the movie captures vintage Euro arthouse erotica vibes and mashes them with an engrossing narrative.