The Most Sex Scenes

The Most Sex Scenes

Christopher is a Southern California-based editor and has been with InStyle since 2018. He covers all things entertainment, celebrity, and culture.

Published on April 13, 2021 @ 10:40AM

InStyle is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family.

From Fifty Shades to Eyes Wide Shut , when movies go there with sex, it makes for plenty to talk about. From uproar over explicit content to the fine line between being rated R and the ever-elusive NC-17, movies are always trying to find a sweet spot between showing too much and expressing the artistic vision — and shock — that can come with a steamy sex scene.

According to Esquire , one of the very first movies to be screened for the public was 1896's The Kiss , which featured a full-on kiss and shocked the prim and proper 19th-century mindset. Moviegoers have come a long way since then, especially with the movies on this list, which range from full-on explicit to laugh-out-loud disbelief. With names Amy Schumer involved alongside Tom Cruise, it's no surprise that there really is something for everyone.

One of the '90s most eyebrow-raising movie moments happened when threesomes became part of normal conversation thanks to Denise Richards, Matt Dillon, and Neve Campbell looking to shed their glossy teen-movie personas.

According to Esquire , this unforgettable scene, which involved Jack Reynor, Isabelle Grill, and just about a million extras, took two weeks to film.

Say what you want about the not-so-vanilla scenes in this much-maligned movie series, the steamy, softcore BDSM sequences between Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan got people talking.

For another take on BDSM, viewers can check out this cult-favorite 2002 film starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader. Gyllenhaal sauntered in her stockings and heels so Dakota Johnson could bring BDSM to the mainstream.

It's hard to believe that Showgirls is rated NC-17. It does, however, have the honor of being the highest-grossing movie with that rating. Elizabeth Berkley and Kyle MacLachlan star in everyone's favorite worst movie, which comes with a laughable sex scene for good measure.

While not exactly arousing, the gold medal-worthy sex scene between Sebastian Stan and The Big Bang Theory 's Melissa Rauch can best be described as "athletic." It's as far from a CBS sitcom as you can get.

Another scene that was meant to get laughs, John Cena and Amy Schumer reportedly ad-libbed the whole thing for a cringe-worthy moment that involves "there's no I in team," "just do it," and even phrases in Mandarin Chinese.

The sequel? Really? Even though the first Basic Instinct has some iconic film moments, the second installment included masturbation, an orgy, and a threesome. The threeway had to be cut so the film could avoid a NC-17 rating.

If viewers are looking for laughs alongside the love scenes, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder deliver more on the former than the latter in this rom-com.

What's more iconic? Tom Cruise's underwear-clad dance sequence, his Ray-Bans, or the train scene with Rebecca De Mornay?

Of course, Cruise had to be on the list twice. Who could forget this Stanley Kubric classic? Co-starring his then-wife Nicole Kidman, the couple was reportedly pushed to their limits during the production. They'd eventually divorce in 2001.

There's more than one unforgettable scene in this movie, but the scene-stealer in every single one might be Mark Wahlberg's enthusiasm — and his prosthetic penis, which was originally a foot long and had to be shortened because it looked too ridiculous.

Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman's on-screen tension comes to a head in one of the award-winning movie's most memorable scenes.

The movie that launched a million peach memes (and Timothée Chalamet's career) had more than a few steamy scenes.

OK, while this isn't technically a sex scene, it's an informative educational moment that brings the laughs no matter how many times people have seen it.

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A recent TV show has beat out some Hollywood classics to be given the honor of having the sexiest scene in television and movie history.
Normal People , the BBC adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel beat romantic classic Ghost and famously steamy films Call Me By Your Name and 50 Shades of Grey when it came to the hottest sex scene, according to a recent study on arousal.
The Irish series, starring Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones as Connell and Marianne, captured hearts when it was released in April 2020, with the stars' insane chemistry propelling the somewhat small scale show to global recognition— the now-famous sex scenes even sparked outrage in religious middle Ireland .
Now, more than a year later, Fandomspot conducted a study of more than 100 participants in which they monitored their heart rates while they watched sexy moments on screen.
A wide range of movies, TV shows across all genres were studied to see which titles got hearts racing the most.
Normal People , took first place in the list, raising heart rates 38 percent on average.
Ghost and Jessica Jones took second and third place, respectively.
The top 10 steamiest movie and TV moments based on how much the average heart rate increased by are:
"Hollywood isn't shy of the odd intimate scene and when we think of the raunchiest movie or TV moment I'm sure lots of different scenes come to our minds. Therefore, as we all appear to be sex and love-obsessed with the likes of Netflix 's Sex/Life and Love Island trending worldwide, we wanted to discover which cinematic moments in history get pulses racing the most," Alyssa Celatti of FandomSpot.com said in a statement.
"TV and movie scenes of an adult nature are something that can often prove to be very divisive but here at FandomSpot.com, we believe it's important for the media to show representation on all sorts of topics and themes. That's why we included a wide variety of people in the study. It was super fun to conduct this study that ultimately relates back to on-screen favorites and popular culture, which is what we're all about here at FandomSpot.com."
The success of Normal People in capturing exquisitely shot sex scenes is the result of its consent-led approach and use of intimacy coordinator Ita O'Brien, whose other recent credits include Netflix's Sex Education, It's a Sin, The Great and I May Destroy You .
Speaking about coordinating Normal People 's sex scenes, O'Brien explained her process in an interview with Vogue .
"It's always about serving the storytelling and after reading the novel, I could see that we were being brought into the characters' internal psychology through those intimate moments," she said.
"Marianne and Connell are so beautiful together and very different as people compared to how they present themselves to the outside world when they're with their friends. So I thought, if the show is going to honour that, then the intimate content has to be inherent to the story. Plus, there's a lot of it!"
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Edited by Andy Kryza Thursday 30 June 2022
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We rank cinema’s best sex scenes, from steamy silent films to Hollywood’s lustiest comedies and beyond
When it comes to sex, the movie are currently going through a bit of a dry spell. It feels like it’s been a long while since we’ve seen a hot, steamy, taboo-shattering roll in the hay – or hot tub, or midsize sedan, or literal bay of hale – in a major studio film, at least not one that truly shocks the zeitgeist and gets audiences talking. Is it because of society’s general rightward shift recently? Or did filmmakers start listening to those misguided social media debates about the merits of the sex scene?
In any case, it’s far past time the movies got back to getting it on – and here are 101 examples why. Sure, in some cases, sex scenes can seem pointless. In the best examples of cinematic boffing, though, sex tells stories. It develops characters. Sometimes it’s a punchline, sometimes it’s terrifying. Sometimes, yes, it’s simply meant to arouse – but titillation has value, too.
Pour yourself some wine and slip into something a little more comfortable. Here are the 101 best sex scenes of all-time.
Written by Dave Calhoun, Joshua Rothkopf, Cath Clarke, David Ehrlich, Phil de Semlyen, Daniel Walber, Trevor Johnston, Andy Kryza, Daniel Walber and Matthew Singer
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Director: Nicolas Roeg Bedfellows: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland
The film Working with a Daphne du Maurier short story, Roeg gives us Laura (Christie) and John (Sutherland), a married couple who travel from Britain to Venice for his job after losing their young daughter in a drowning accident.
The sex scene It’s a simple predinner sex scene in a hotel room, but the way Roeg shoots and edits it, and the manner in which the actors perform it, makes it extremely powerful.
Why is it so groundbreaking? It just feels so real. It’s also a rare sex scene that chimes in perfect harmony with the film around it. Their sex feels like both an expression of grief and a welcome respite from it. Most of all, the actors just look like they know what they’re doing. No wonder they’ve been denying the sex was real ever since.
Director: Ingmar Bergman Bedfellows: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann
The film After the catatonic breakdown of stage star Elisabet (Ullmann), she and nurse Alma (Andersson) enter into a fluid, mesmerizing power struggle, also a meeting of the minds.
The sex scene In a semidarkened room, Alma relates a tale of sex on the beach with her girlfriend and a pair of underage boys, an incident with dire consequences.
Why is it so groundbreaking? A classic sex scene with no actual sex in it? That's expert-level, folks. It helps to be Ingmar Bergman, the master director who could wring a heartbreaking monologue out of a shoe. Andersson's matter-of-fact relation of graphic acts makes the scene unbearably hot. The moment was often cut from prints by concerned censors. Famously, Roger Ebert wrote, ‘The imagery of this monologue is so powerful that I have heard people describe the scene as if they actually saw it in the film.’
Director: Ang Lee Tentfellows: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal
The film Based on Annie Proulx’s story about the love affair between two cowboys, Ang Lee’s beautiful, swooning film starred Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as range hands who fall in love.
The sex scene It gets mighty cold up there in the hills of Wyoming. After a night drinking whiskey, the ranchers huddle up for warmth, and then…
Why is it so groundbreaking? Ang Lee put gay sex in the mainstream. Conservatives accused the film of promoting a gay agenda, but don’t they always? Brokeback Mountain picked up three Oscars from eight nominations in 2006, but not Best Picture (which went to Crash ). Some critics, including Roger Ebert, believed homophobia factored in the voting.
Director: William Heise Bedfellows: May Irwin, John Rice
The film At just 18 seconds long, ‘The Kiss’ (sometimes known as ‘The May Irwin Kiss’) is one of the earliest films to be shown to the public. Directed by William Heise for Thomas Edison, it recreates a kiss from a popular musical of the time, The Widow Jones .
The sex scene To be honest, it’s barely a kiss; there’s definitely no tongues or bodily fluids exchanged as actor John Rice tweezes his moustache in preparation before he goes in for what is more of a peck.
Why is it so groundbreaking? Officially the first ever film to feature two people kissing, it caused an uproar, with one commentator writing that it was ‘beastly enough in life size on the stage, but magnified to gargantuan proportions and repeated three times over, it is absolutely disgusting.’ Sounds like a film critic to us.
Director: Nagisa Oshima Bedfellows: Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda
The film Oshima’s 1976 masterpiece – the crown jewel of a career hell-bent on upsetting the establishment – recounts the true story of the all-consuming sexual obsession that blossomed between a hotel owner and his new employee in 1936 Tokyo.
The sex scene How do we pick just one? A marvel of escalation, In the Realm of the Senses is an almost constant stream of increasingly perverse sex acts. To isolate any moment from the maelstrom of deviant (and unsimulated) behavior would be arbitrary by default. Nevertheless, we’d argue the sequence that most pushes the boundaries occurs when Kichizo (Fuji) inserts a hard-boiled egg into the vagina of his new bride, Sada (Matsuda), in full view of the people serving them dinner. He then instructs Sada to squat like a hen and lay the egg on the floor before he eats it. In most films, the pain that Sada experiences would immediately classify the act as sexual assault, but In the Realm of the Senses renders our judgments irrelevant.
Why is it so groundbreaking? Even for generations raised on free Internet porn, the acts on display in Oshima’s movie are still taboo. In the Realm of the Senses was the first nonpornographic film to include blow jobs, and there’s a very graphic one prior to the scene of food insertion. But it’s only when you watch that egg disappear that you begin to comprehend the full extent of the film’s transgression.
Interrogation roomfellows: Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas, Newman from Seinfeld
The film It’s the erotic thriller that spawned countless pale imitators. Starring Sharon Stone as Catherine Tramell, a novelist suspected in a string of very sexy murders, and Michael Douglas as the cop desperate to get her in handcuffs… if you know what we mean.
The sex scene Brought in for questioning, Tramell gets a roomful of already sweaty cops even more hot and bothered by casually describing the deviant sex she used to have with her ex who’s recently been ice-picked to death. Then she uncrosses her legs, revealing that being a successful mystery writer doesn’t pay enough to afford her undergarments. Poor thing.
Why is it so groundbreaking? Basic Instinct contains several graphic, often violent depictions of actual intercourse, but nothing made ‘90s audiences gasp more than a fleeting shot of female genitalia. The moment was parodied endlessly, which too
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The Most Sex Scenes

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