Olivia Wilde Discusses the BDSM Community at Premiere of ‘I Want Your Sex’ at Sundance

After more than a decade, prince of the New Queer Cinema movement Greg Araki returns to directing with his new film I Want Your Sex. Blossoming out of the 90s independent wave of filmmakers, Araki made a name for himself with sexy and provocative films like Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation, and Mysterious Skin. A staple in what is now recognized as the ‘New Queer Cinema’ movement, Araki hasn’t made a feature-length film since the critically and commercially disappointing White Bird in a Blizzard in 2014.

Until now!

His new film, I Want Your Sex, had its Sundance premiere yesterday and stars a hot young cast including Cooper Hoffman, Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Charli XCX, and Olivia Wilde, who spoke to Deadline, praising co-writer Karley Sciortino’s script (which she wrote with Greg Araki) and for introducing her to the BDSM community.

In the film, Wilde plays Erika Tracy, an excentric artist who recruits her much younger assistant, Elliot (Cooper Hoffman) to become her submissive sexual partner. To prepare her for the role, Sciortino introduced Wilde to a group of dominatrix friends so she could become familiar with the subculture (pun intended) explored in Araki’s new film.

“Karley was instrumental because this spec script was hers, and she developed this movie with Gregg. She gave me so much insight into the dom [dominatrix] community,” she explained. “She really connected me, through friends of hers, to studying with some amazing people who kind of brought me into that world and allowed me to have such an education and allowed me to have even more respect for people working on the fringes of that world. It’s just fascinating.”

Wilde continued, “So for me, it was also this kind of anthropological journey of learning, and Karley was incredibly gracious. We laughed so hard making this, and yet, I walked away from it feeling like I really learned something valuable.”

The movie has opened to mixed reviews out of Sundance, with the Hollywood Reporter praising Wilde and Hoffman as “dangerously kinky,” while The Guardian writer, Benjamin Lee, gave it 2/5 stars, calling it a “tame dom-sub romp.” We will see what more audiences think as reviews continue to trickle out, but one thing is for sure: any new Greg Araki-helmed project is worth checking out.

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