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: Smith (Thomas Dekker), a typical young college student who likes partying and engaging in acts of random sex and debauchery,... [More]
Synopsis: An alcoholic writer (Peter Coyote) in a wheelchair recalls his sexy wife (Emmanuelle Seigner) for an English aristocrat (Hugh Grant)... [More]
Synopsis: In the wake of Jamaican emancipation, French colonist Annette Cosway (Rachel Ward) falls into poverty and marries racist Englishman Paul... [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: A Nazi death-camp sadomasochist (Dirk Bogarde) and a woman (Charlotte Rampling) he abused meet again in 1957 Vienna.... [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: In 17th-century France, Father Grandier (Oliver Reed) is a priest whose unorthodox views on sex and religion influence a passionate... [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: Julian (Richard Gere), a gigolo, commands high prices for his services, living a lavish if emotionally unattached lifestyle under the... [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: John Cameron Mitchell's SHORTBUS explores the lives of several emotionally challenged characters as they navigate the comic and tragic intersections... [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: Urbane professor Humbert Humbert (Jeremy Irons) marries a New England widow (Melanie Griffith) to be near her nymphet daughter.... [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: Newly released from a mental institution, Ricky (Antonio Banderas) heads straight for a reunion with the love of his life,... [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 but soon discovers that her lover is concealing a... [More]
Critics Consensus: Beneath the gratuitous nudity lies a complex and visually striking movie.
Synopsis: After learning that her boyfriend, Lorenzo (Tristán Ulloa), a talented but troubled writer, may have committed suicide, the beautiful Lucía... [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: Syd (Radha Mitchell), a low-level editor at a photography magazine eager to establish herself, discovers her neighbor is the once-celebrated... [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: Isabelle (Marine Vacth), a 17-year-old student, loses her virginity during a quick holiday romance. When she returns home, she begins... [More]
Synopsis: Germany, the '70s. Leopold, a smug, still-hunky 50-year-old businessman, picks up and seduces fresh-faced, carrot-topped 19-year old Franz who swiftly... [More]
Synopsis: In 1930s Australia, Anglican clergyman Anthony Campion (Hugh Grant) and his prim wife, Estella (Tara Fitzgerald), are asked to visit... [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: Michael Courtland (Cliff Robertson) is a husband and father whose wife, Elizabeth (Geneviève Bujold), and daughter, Amy (Wanda Blackman), have... [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: Three college singers (Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers, Marcia McBroom) join a Hollywood scene of debauchery, drugs and rock 'n' roll.... [More]
Synopsis: Mild-mannered composer Jason Kinsky (David Thewlis) hires Shandurai (Thandie Newton), a medical student and recent immigrant from Africa, to work... [More]
Critics Consensus: Boldly transgressive, ambitious, and undeniably flawed, Pola X overcomes its stumbles with palpable passion.
Synopsis: A writer (Guillaume Depardieu) leaves his upper-class life and journeys with a woman (Yekaterina Golubeva) claiming to be his sister,... [More]
Synopsis: A would-be writer (Jean-Hugues Anglade) falls for an unpredictable woman (Béatrice Dalle), then he slowly realizes that she is going... [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: After notorious libertine Ryno de Marigny (Fu'ad Ait Aatou) wins the hand of Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida), the most marriageable young... [More]
Critics Consensus: Darkly funny, fearlessly bold, and thoroughly indulgent, Nymphomaniac finds Lars von Trier provoking viewers with customary abandon.
Critics Consensus: Tasteful, poetic, yet sexually forthright, Lady Chatterley skillfully translates its source novel's high-art erotica onto the big screen.
Synopsis: Young and beautiful Lady Constance Chatterley (Marina Hands) lives a life of comfort on the lavish estate owned by her... [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: Hsiao-Kang reunites with Shiang-chyi during a water shortage.... [More]
Synopsis: Upper-crust British politician Stephen (Jeremy Irons) is in a dull but stable marriage with Ingrid (Miranda Richardson). When Stephen meets... [More]
Synopsis: Anne (Daphné Baiwir) reads her younger sister, Marie-Catherine (Lola Créton), the story of Bluebeard. In 17th-century France, another set of... [More]
Critics Consensus: Moody and steadily alluring, Sea of Love benefits immeasurably from the window-fogging chemistry between Ellen Barkin and Al Pacino.
Synopsis: Troubled New York City detective Frank Keller (Al Pacino) investigates a serial killer who finds victims using personal ads in... [More]
Critics Consensus: A whimsically engaging sex comedy.
Synopsis: Stars Koji Yakusho as a Tokyo businessman whose company has recently gone bankrupt, leaving him unemployed. Estranged from his wife... [More]
Critics Consensus: Boasting stellar performances by Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, Shame is a powerful plunge into the mania of addiction affliction.
Synopsis: Successful and handsome New Yorker Brandon (Michael Fassbender) seems to live an ordinary life, but he hides a terrible secret... [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: An affair with an immigrant worker allows a woman to find her true self.... [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: Victor (Liberto Rabal) goes to meet Elena (Francesca Neri) for a date. Elena, uninterested, tells Victor to leave the apartment... [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: Close friends Rupert Birkin (Alan Bates) and Gerald Crich (Oliver Reed) begin romances with siblings Ursula (Jennie Linden) and Gudrun... [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: At a dinner -- during which her husband, Tancredi (Pippo Delbono), learns that he and his son Edoardo Recchi Jr.... [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: Australian teenager Heidi (Abbie Cornish) is left with little choice but to leave home after she's caught red-handed with her... [More]
Critics Consensus: A sensual thriller with two engaging performers demanding our undivided attention.
Synopsis: When uptight British writer Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling) has difficulty with her new detective novel, her publisher, John Bosload (Charles... [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: When Liz Blake (Nancy Allen), a prostitute, sees a mysterious woman brutally slay homemaker Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson), she finds... [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: A dark-haired woman (Laura Elena Harring) is left amnesiac after a car crash. She wanders the streets of Los Angeles... [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: Successful surgeon Tomas (Daniel Day-Lewis) leaves Prague for an operation, meets a young photographer named Tereza (Juliette Binoche), and brings... [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: Distraught following his wife's suicide, American hotelier Paul (Marlon Brando) becomes transfixed by the beautiful younger Frenchwoman Jeanne (Maria Schneider)... [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: Disguising herself as a human female, an extraterrestrial (Scarlett Johansson) drives around Scotland and tries to lure unsuspecting men into... [More]
Critics Consensus:The Untamed attempts some ambitious tonal juggling between fantastical and disturbing -- and draws viewers in with its slippery, inexorable pull.
Synopsis: A couple in a troubled marriage locate a meteorite, initiating an encounter with a mysterious creature. Their lives are turned... [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: If behind every great man is a great woman, then Harvard psychologist and inventor Dr. William Moulton Marston has the... [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: Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. To the casual observer, everything... [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: Sparks fly when Violet (Jennifer Tilly) sets eyes on Corky (Gina Gershon) in an elevator. Violet is the girlfriend of... [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: When churlish mobster Albert Spica (Michael Gambon) acquires an upscale French restaurant in London, he dines there nightly, effectively scaring... [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: A French teen (Adèle Exarchopoulos) forms a deep emotional and sexual connection with an older art student (Léa Seydoux) she... [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: Following an adulterous tryst, a man (Mathieu Amalric) finds himself under investigation for an unknown crime.... [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: While vacationing on a Sicilian island with her boyfriend (Matthias Schoenaerts), a rock star (Tilda Swinton) receives an unexpected visit... [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: Though a childhood bout with polio left him dependent on an iron lung, Mark O'Brien (John Hawkes) maintains a career... [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: Stylish, seductive, and clever, Stephen Frears' adaptation is a wickedly entertaining exploration of sexual politics.
Synopsis: The Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and the Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich) display the petty jealousies and jaded insouciance... [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: College student Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) returns home after his father has a stroke. When he discovers a severed ear... [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: Franck falls in love with Michel, an attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man.... [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: With help from an orphaned pickpocket (Kim Tae-ri), a Korean con man (Ha Jung-woo) devises an elaborate plot to seduce... [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: It's the summer of 1983, and precocious 17-year-old Elio Perlman is spending the days with his family at their 17th-century... [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: Ann (Andie MacDowell) is trapped in a sexually and emotionally unfulfilled relationship with her husband, John (Peter Gallagher), a successful... [More]
Synopsis: Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve) cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre... [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: After his girlfriend Nina dies, Rob falls in love with Holly. The new relationship faces a huge challenge when Nina... [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: Shyster lawyer Ned Racine (William Hurt) begins a passionate affair with Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner), wife of a wealthy Florida... [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: Mr. Neville (Anthony Higgins), a brash young draftsman, is hired to make 12 landscape illustrations at the estate of Mr.... [More]
