‘I Want Your Sex’ Review: Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman Are a Riot In Gregg Araki’s Erotic Comedy Thriller

Gregg Araki is back, and it’s like he never left. 

Though it’s been more than a decade since the last feature from the director of provocative films like “The Doom Generation” and “Kaboom,” his triumphant return with the frequently uproarious “I Want Your Sex” proves that the compassionate and chaotic filmmaker has not lost his edge. His latest is sexy, it’s silly, it’s sinister and it’s just serious enough to make you willing to overlook some of the structural narrative cheats it uses to get itself out of the corners it writes itself into.

That Araki has found kindred comedic spirits in stars Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman only makes it that much more of a darkly joyous, madcap comedy. Though not without flaw in terms of how it sets up its various scenarios, it’s such a fun movie from the filmmaker that one can now only hope it isn’t another decade before we see another project from him.  

Playing around with some of the same ideas that Araki has explored in the past surrounding sex and power, “I Want Your Sex” is also a deliberately cheeky film that pokes fun at the state of modern relationships. Centering on the relationship between the seemingly innocent young Elliot (Hoffman) as he begins working for and then being a submissive to the artist Erika Tracy (Wilde), we see from the jump that this arrangement will end in a catastrophe of some kind.

While the way the film flashes forward and back to establish this can be a little clunky. But once the two begin to have at it, you’re locked in for the ride. It’s as if Araki has donned the skin of the recent film “Babygirl” and then proceeded to confidently and apologetically rise above it to command center stage. What a spectacularly sexy and absurd treat of a film this then becomes.

While praise will likely be deservedly showered on Wilde as she steps into Erika’s domineering high-heeled shoes with ease, “I Want Your Sex” also boasts one of the best turns from Hoffman to date. He must dance between many different emotions over the course of the film: sweetly sincere, then naively excited, then drunk on what he thinks is love, then completely demoralized as all comes crashing down. It’s a testament to his range that you not just buy every moment of Elliot and Erika’s chaotic relationship, but are even charmed by many parts of it.

Without Hoffman to hold this all together, none of it would work. Thankfully, he carries this all perfectly, hitting just the right comedic note every time. It shows that, much like his father, the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman, he’s able to channel comedic slapstick just as he does sincere emotion. Even when the film can blink in the face of the more complex and challenging ideas that it teases out, the young Hoffman never does. 

“I Want Your Sex” is not always quite as deep as you’d hope from Araki. There are even some occasional cartoonish and surreal interjections that make it feel as though we may have actually been dropped into a stoner movie. However, these elements are exactly what you see an Araki movie for. You think he’s just going to make a film that follows your rules?  That would be boring, and, of all the things you can call Araki, boring is never one of them.

If anything, whenever “I Want Your Sex” feels like it’s getting caught up in more formulaic developments, it’s a relief to see it toss that all aside and get back to being a ridiculous romp. Even as the structure of the story creates a sense of inevitability to everything that can undercut the fun of seeing it fall apart, the often campy and heightened way each scene plays out means you’re always drawn in by something. 

When the film leaves behind the flashbacks to tread out into more uncharted waters, Hoffman takes this all in stride and never misses a step. He’s a compelling screen presence who bounces off of and even matches Wilde’s energy perfectly. Though you may wish “I Want Your Sex” had almost taken a few bigger swings into chaos, just seeing the frantic looks in Hoffman’s eyes as Araki throws more and more at him makes it all that much more pleasurable to behold.

Both director and actor embrace the material with such playful vigor that you can only hope they collaborate on something, anything, in the future. Even if that doesn’t happen, the joyous experience of “I Want Your Sex” just reaffirms how great it is to see the name Gregg Araki appear once more in a movie theater. Welcome back, you maniac. Cinema has missed you. 

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