Critics Consensus: Jumbled and shallow yet easy to watch, Kaboom is a one-night stand that isn't meant to lead anywhere -- but is fun enough while it lasts.
Synopsis: "Kaboom" is a hyper-stylized "Twin Peaks" for the Coachella Generation, featuring a gorgeous young cast. A wild, witty and sex-drenched... [More]
Synopsis: Czechoslovakian director Gutav Machaty's experimental romantic idyll, replete with soggy symbolism, was a cause celebre upon its release in 1932... [More]
Synopsis: Roman Polanski, Gerard Brach, and John Brownjohn adapted Pascal Bruckner's novel for this erotic, funny, and frequently twisted story of... [More]
Critics Consensus: The Night Porter's salaciousness gives its exploration of historical trauma a bitter aftertaste, but audiences seeking provocation are unlikely to forget the sting of this erotic drama.
Synopsis: The psychology of a sadomasochistic relationship between a former Nazi storm trooper and the concentration camp prisoner he loved provides... [More]
Critics Consensus: Grimly stylish, Ken Russell's baroque opus is both provocative and persuasive in its contention that the greatest blasphemy is the leveraging of faith for power.
Synopsis: The Devils was the Ken Russell film version of the controversial play by John Whiting. The story, based on Aldous... [More]
Critics Consensus: While Paul Schrader's clinical direction and Richard Gere's muted performance don't stir much passion, American Gigolo succeeds as a stylish character study.
Synopsis: A slick Los Angeles callboy finds love and redemption in Paul Schrader's ultra-stylish drama. High-living prostitute Julian Kay (Richard Gere,... [More]
Critics Consensus: The sex may be explicit, but Mitchell integrates it into the characters' lives and serves the whole story up with a generous dose of sweetness and wit.
Synopsis: The film follows a varied group of seven people, among them a dominatrix and a sex therapist, as they navigate... [More]
Critics Consensus: If it can't quite live up to Nabokov's words, Adrian Lyne's Lolita manages to find new emotional notes in this complicated story, thanks in large part to its solid performances.
Synopsis: Humbert Humbert is a fine and distinguished gentleman, a citizen of the world, a lover of European culture, who teaches... [More]
Critics Consensus: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! undermines its own effectiveness with an excess of camp, but writer-director Pedro Almodóvar and an attractive cast make it all worth watching.
Synopsis: Upon his release from a psychiatric hospital, Ricky visits a film set to watch the object of his love and... [More]
Critics Consensus: Double Lover offers kinky pleasures that should thrill fans of classic erotic cinema while adding some uniquely transgressive European twists.
Synopsis: Chloé, a fragile young woman, falls in love with her psychoanalyst, Paul. A few months later she moves in with... [More]
Synopsis: This offbeat outing offers a surprisingly sensitive and somewhat romantic portrait of a necrophiliac. Sandra has been infatuated with dead... [More]
Critics Consensus: A surprisingly sultry performance from Ally Sheedy elevates High Art from pretentious melodrama to compelling -- if still a little pretentious -- romance.
Synopsis: Lisa Cholodenko's Sundance award-winning romantic drama about a photo magazine editor and the heroin-addicted former photo prodigy with whom she... [More]
Critics Consensus: Ozon may not explore his themes as fully as he should, but Young & Beautiful poses enough intriguing questions -- and features a strong enough performance from Marine Vacth -- to compensate for its frustrations.
Synopsis: Acclaimed director François Ozon (Swimming Pool, 8 Women) helms this erotic tale of sexual awakening. After losing her virginity, 17-year-old... [More]
Critics Consensus: Obsession suffers in comparison to the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece that it mirrors, but director Brian De Palma's unique preoccupations give this thriller its own compulsive, twisted fingerprint.
Synopsis: Brian DePalma's spin on Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo casts Cliff Robertson as widower Michael Courtland, who meets an enigmatic young woman... [More]
Critics Consensus: Confidently campy and played with groovy conviction, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is an exuberant expression of both the hilarity and terror that comes with free love.
Synopsis: Roundly panned upon its first release, Russ Meyer's X-rated Beyond the Valley of the Dolls has gained a huge cult... [More]
Synopsis: Set in the contrasting climates of a politically-charged Africa and the tranquil confines of an enchanting Roman villa, Besieged is... [More]
Synopsis: Jean-Jacques Beineix's Betty Blue stars Béatrice Dalle as the title character, a mentally unbalanced and sexually aggressive free spirit who... [More]
Critics Consensus: More complicated than your average bodice ripper, Catherine Breillat's Last Mistress features beautiful costumes, wrought romances, and a feral performance from Argento.
Synopsis: Catherine Breillat's adaptation of An Old Mistress stars Fu'ad Ait Aatou as Ryno de Marigny, and Asia Argento as Vellini,... [More]
Critics Consensus: Maggie Gyllenhaal impresses in this romantic comedy with a kinky twist.
Synopsis: Sadomasochism provides the backdrop for a very unusual employer/employee relationship in this very offbeat romantic drama from filmmaker Steven Shainberg.... [More]
Critics Consensus: Darkly funny, fearlessly bold, and thoroughly indulgent, Nymphomaniac finds Lars von Trier provoking viewers with customary abandon.
Synopsis: NYMPHOMANIAC: VOLUME I is the story of Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac who is discovered badly beaten in an... [More]
Synopsis: The third collaboration between screenwriter Stephane Bouquet and writer/director Sebastien Lifshitz, Presque Rien is the story of a young French... [More]
Critics Consensus: Tasteful, poetic, yet sexually forthright, Lady Chatterley skillfully translates its source novel's high-art erotica onto the big screen.
Synopsis: D.H. Lawrence's once-scandalous tale of a married woman who finds herself through an affair with another man is brought to... [More]
Critics Consensus: The Wayward Cloud may baffle more literally minded viewers, but its surreal pleasures will resonate with fans of thoroughly unique cinema.
Synopsis: The subjects of love, sex, and lust in modern-day Taiwan are given a surreal, kaleidoscopic treatment in Tsai Ming-Liang's experimental... [More]
Synopsis: Adapted from Josephine Hart's spare novel by British screenwriter David Hare and French director Louis Malle, this brooding erotic drama... [More]
Critics Consensus: Moody and steadily alluring, Sea of Love benefits immeasurably from the window-fogging chemistry between Ellen Barkin and Al Pacino.
Synopsis: In this thriller, Al Pacino stars as Frank Keller, an alcoholic policeman in the depths of middle-age crisis. Frank begins... [More]
Critics Consensus: Boasting stellar performances by Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, Shame is a powerful plunge into the mania of addiction affliction.
Synopsis: Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction... [More]
Critics Consensus: Smartly constructed by writer-director Gina Kim and brought to life by a strong cast led by Vera Farmiga, Never Forever is an unexpectedly engaging melodrama.
Synopsis: Korean filmmaker Gina Kim directed this erotic drama about a woman's dangerous response to her husband's fertility issues. The Departed's... [More]
Critics Consensus: Live Flesh surveys the fallout from an act of violence with a mature melodrama that sees Pedro Almodóvar working in surprisingly restrained form.
Synopsis: Pedro Almodovar's most mature and restrained film is a superbly structured melodrama about five people whose lives in modern Madrid... [More]
Synopsis: Red, White and Blue is a powerful, visceral and oddly touching thriller/slash movie. It's also very sophisticated storytelling with temporal... [More]
Synopsis: Julio Medem directed this romantic Spanish drama with location scenes in Finland. School children Ana (Sara Valiente) and Otto (Peru... [More]
Critics Consensus: A quartet of nuanced performances and Ken Russell's off-kilter direction brings D.H. Lawrence's battle of the sexes to tactile life.
Synopsis: Two sisters are courted by two very different men in the D. H. Lawrence classic Women In Love. Gudren (Glenda... [More]
Critics Consensus: The stylish Thirst packs plenty of bloody thrills to satisfy fans of both vampire films and director Chan Wook Park.
Synopsis: Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, and Kim Ok-bin star in Oldboy director Park Chan-wook's frightener concerning a priest whose life takes... [More]
Critics Consensus: It stumbles into melodrama, but I Am Love backs up its flamboyance with tremendous visual style and a marvelous central performance from Tilda Swinton.
Synopsis: This lavish, sprawling drama from filmmaker Luca Guadagnino has drawn numerous comparisons to the films of Luchino Visconti for the... [More]
Critics Consensus: A poignant coming-of-age tale marked by a breakout lead performance from Abbie Cornish and a successful directorial debut from Cate Shortland.
Synopsis: After making a misjudged advance towards her mother's boyfriend, 16-year-old Heidi flees her home for the small Australian ski town... [More]
Critics Consensus: With arresting visuals and an engrossingly lurid mystery, Dressed to Kill stylishly encapsulates writer-director Brian De Palma's signature strengths.
Synopsis: In this stylish, violent thriller,an unhappy wife, Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson), meets a handsome man in a museum and goes... [More]
Critics Consensus: David Lynch's dreamlike and mysterious Mulholland Drive is a twisty neo-noir with an unconventional structure that features a mesmirizing performance from Naomi Watts as a woman on the dark fringes of Hollywood.
Synopsis: Along Mulholland Drive nothing is what it seems. In the unreal universe of Los Angeles, the city bares its schizophrenic... [More]
Critics Consensus: Exploring sexual mores against the backdrop of real-life social upheaval, The Unbearable Lightness of Being artfully blends the political and the erotic.
Synopsis: In Philip Kaufman's surprisingly successful film adaptation of Czech author Milan Kundera's demanding 1984 best-seller, Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Tomas,... [More]
Critics Consensus: Naturalistic but evocative, Last Tango in Paris is a vivid exploration of pain, love, and sex featuring a typically towering Marlon Brando performance.
Synopsis: In Bernardo Bertolucci's art-house classic, Marlon Brando delivers one of his characteristically idiosyncratic performances as Paul, a middle-aged American in... [More]
Critics Consensus: Its message may prove elusive for some, but with absorbing imagery and a mesmerizing performance from Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin is a haunting viewing experience.
Synopsis: From visionary director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Birth) comes a stunning career transformation, a masterpiece of existential science fiction that... [More]
Critics Consensus: The Untamed attempts some ambitious tonal juggling between fantastical and disturbing -- and draws viewers in with its slippery, inexorable pull.
Synopsis: Alejandra is a young mother and housewife who raises her children with her husband Angel in a small town. His... [More]
Critics Consensus: Sexual taboos are broken and boundaries crossed In the Realm of the Senses, a fearlessly provocative psychosexual tale.
Synopsis: Based upon a true incident in 1930s Japan, Nagisa Oshima's controversial film effectively skirts the borderline between pornography and art... [More]
Critics Consensus: Professor Marston & The Wonder Women winds a lasso of cinematic truth around a fascinating fact-based tale with strong performances from its three stars.
Synopsis: In a superhero origin tale unlike any other, the film is the incredible true story of what inspired Harvard psychologist... [More]
Critics Consensus: This emotionally gripping examination of a marriage on the rocks isn't always easy to watch, but Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling give performances of unusual depth and power.
Synopsis: A complex portrait of a contemporary American marriage, "Blue Valentine" tells the story of David and Cindy, a couple who... [More]
Critics Consensus: Bound's more titillating elements attracted attention, but it's the stylish direction, solid performances, and entertaining neo-noir caper plot that make it worth a watch.
Synopsis: Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly nearly set the screen on fire in this clever, female-powered twist on the standard Mob... [More]
Critics Consensus: This romantic crime drama may not be to everyone's taste, but The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is an audacious, powerful film.
Synopsis: This is probably Peter Greenaway's most famous (or infamous) film, which first shocked audiences at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival... [More]
Critics Consensus: Provocative, funny, and brilliantly acted, Venus in Fur finds Roman Polanski in top late-period form.
Synopsis: Based on the Tony Award-winning Broadway play by David Ives, which itself was based on Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's groundbreaking novella,... [More]
Critics Consensus: Raw, honest, powerfully acted, and deliciously intense, Blue Is the Warmest Color offers some of modern cinema's most elegantly composed, emotionally absorbing drama.
Synopsis: BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR centers on a 15-year-old girl named Adèle (Exarchopoulos) who is climbing to adulthood and dreams... [More]
Critics Consensus: The Blue Room proves a sobering study of the dark side of human nature, as well as a coolly assured directorial effort from star and co-writer Mathieu Amalric.
Synopsis: Two adulterous lovers go from pillow talk to possible murder in this sexy, brain-teasing thriller. Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell... [More]
Critics Consensus: Absorbing, visually arresting, and powerfully acted by an immensely talented cast, A Bigger Splash offers sumptuously soapy delights for fans of psychological adult drama.
Synopsis: In A BIGGER SPLASH, rock legend Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) is recuperating on the volcanic island of Pantelleria with her... [More]
Critics Consensus: Tender, funny, and touching, The Sessions provides an acting showcase for its talented stars and proves it's possible for Hollywood to produce a grown-up movie about sex.
Synopsis: Based on the poignantly optimistic autobiographical writings of California-based journalist and poet Mark O'Brien, The Sessions tells the story of... [More]
Critics Consensus: Powered by Holly Hunter's main performance, The Piano is a truth-seeking romance played in the key of erotic passion.
Synopsis: Writer/director Jane Campion's third feature unearthed emotional undercurrents and churning intensity in the story of a mute woman's rebellion in... [More]
Critics Consensus: Kubrick's Lolita adapts its seemingly unadaptable source material with a sly comedic touch and a sterling performance by James Mason that transforms the controversial novel into something refreshingly new without sacrificing its essential edge.
Synopsis: With a screenplay penned by the author himself, Stanley Kubrick brings Vladimir Nabokov's controversial tale of forbidden love to the... [More]
Critics Consensus: If audiences walk away from this subversive, surreal shocker not fully understanding the story, they might also walk away with a deeper perception of the potential of film storytelling.
Synopsis: Director David Lynch crafted this hallucinogenic mystery-thriller that probes beneath the cheerful surface of suburban America to discover sadomasochistic violence,... [More]
Critics Consensus: Sexy, smart, and darkly humorous, Stranger by the Lake offers rewarding viewing for adult filmgoers in search of thought-provoking drama.
Synopsis: Frank (Pierre Deladonchamps) spends his summer days hopelessly searching for companionship at a popular cruising spot on the shores of... [More]
Critics Consensus: It may be a chamber piece but Weekend's revelations on modern sexuality expand far beyond the modest setting.
Synopsis: Weekend follows Russell (newcomer Tom Cullen, Best Actor winner at Nashville), who, after randomly picking up artist Glen (Chris New)... [More]
Critics Consensus: The Handmaiden uses a Victorian crime novel as the loose inspiration for another visually sumptuous and absorbingly idiosyncratic outing from director Park Chan-wook.
Synopsis: From PARK Chan-wook, the celebrated director of OLDBOY, LADY VENGEANCE, THIRST and STOKER, comes a ravishing new crime drama inspired... [More]
Critics Consensus: Call Me by Your Name offers a melancholy, powerfully affecting portrait of first love, empathetically acted by Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer.
Synopsis: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, the new film by Luca Guadagnino, is a sensual and transcendent tale of first love,... [More]
Critics Consensus: In his feature directorial debut, Steven Soderbergh demonstrates a mastery of his craft well beyond his years, pulling together an outstanding cast and an intelligent script for a nuanced, mature film about neurosis and human sexuality.
Synopsis: Steven Soderbergh kickstarted the independent film movement of the 1990s with this landmark drama about the tangled relationships among four... [More]
Synopsis: Belle de Jour dramatizes the collision between depravity and elegance, one of the favorite themes of director Luis Buñuel. Catherine... [More]
Critics Consensus: Nina Forever tests the limits of the rom-com with a decidedly unorthodox triangle that's as diabolically original as it is daringly dark.
Synopsis: Holly wants to save Rob and has fallen in love with him. She is training to be a paramedic and... [More]
Critics Consensus: Made from classic noir ingredients and flavored with a heaping helping of steamy modern spice, Body Heat more than lives up to its evocative title.
Synopsis: Lawrence Kasdan's first directorial effort is a throwback to the early days of film noir. The scene is a beastly... [More]
Critics Consensus: Smart and utterly original, The Draughtsman's Contract is a period piece that marks the further maturation of a writer-director with a thrillingly unique vision.
Synopsis: According to this story of a woman not so much scorned as ignored, life in late 17th-century England among the... [More]
