‘I Want Your Sex’: Release Date, Plot, Cast and Everything Else You Need to Know About Olivia Wilde’s Kinky New Erotic Thriller That Is About To Push The R Rating To Its Limit

Olivia Wilde is stepping into one of the boldest roles of her career, and audiences are already buzzing about it. Her new film ‘I Want Your Sex,’ directed by New Queer Cinema pioneer Gregg Araki, is barreling toward theaters with a reputation that precedes it, thanks to a scandal soaked Sundance debut.

The erotic thriller comedy has critics and fans talking about everything from its provocative content to its surprisingly tender core, and with the release date closing in, here is everything worth knowing about the project.

‘I Want Your Sex’ Release Date

‘I Want Your Sex’ is set to hit theaters as a limited release in the United States on July 31, 2026, distributed by Magnolia Pictures. There are four other movies coming out on the same date, including ‘Spider-Man Brand New Day,’ ‘The Gentleman Thief’ and ‘The Samurai and the Prisoner.’

Before its theatrical run, the film made its world premiere much earlier in the year. It first screened at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2026.

Following its festival debut, the film also played at the 43rd Miami Film Festival, the 23rd Indianapolis Film Festival, and the 73rd Sydney Film Festival. As a limited theatrical release, moviegoers will want to check listings closely, since it will only be shown in select markets rather than opening wide nationwide.

‘I Want Your Sex’ Cast Details

Leading the film is Olivia Wilde in the role of Erika Tracy, described as a renowned artist, icon and provocateur. Wilde plays a once successful and swaggering artist whose primary interest lies in what goes down in the bedroom.

Opposite her is Cooper Hoffman as Elliot, the wide eyed twentysomething who gets pulled into Erika’s orbit. Araki has described Elliot as a kind hearted if unmotivated twentysomething whose fantasies quickly come true when he lands a job with the renowned artist.

The supporting cast is stacked with recognizable names. Mason Gooding, Chase Sui Wonders, Johnny Knoxville, Margaret Cho, Roxane Mesquida, Charli XCX and Tony Award winner Daveed Diggs also star in the film. Chase Sui Wonders plays Elliot’s best friend and roommate, while pop superstar Charli XCX appears as a character named Minerva.

Despite sharing a cast list, Wilde revealed she and Charli XCX never actually crossed paths on set. According to Wilde, she and Charli XCX texted and she loved her, calling her inspiring and part of an explosion of female power in music, even though the pair had not met in person. She added that her character does not share scenes with Charli XCX’s, but that the singer brought serious energy to the production regardless.

‘I Want Your Sex’ Plot Explained

At its core, the story follows Elliot as he lands what seems like a dream job working for Erika Tracy. The film centers on the renowned provocateur artist and her naive new gallery assistant as they engage in a sadomasochistic relationship.

Their dynamic escalates quickly. What starts as a fantasy for the aspiring artist soon devolves into a spiraling nightmare as Erika guides him through a world of lust, power, murder and betrayal.

The film does not shy away from explicit content. It opens with Erika lying face down in a swimming pool while Elliot, wearing pink lingerie, screams bloody murder, before flashing back nine and a half weeks earlier to when Elliot first becomes obsessed with her.

Still, the cast insists there is more going on beneath the surface. Chase Sui Wonders, who plays Elliot’s best friend and roommate, said that ultimately the sex feels secondary, calling it a story about being obsessed with someone and, at its heart, a tragic love story.

‘I Want Your Sex’ Trailer and Age Rating

The first trailer arrived showcasing just how far Araki was willing to push things. It features everything from ball gags, whips and strap-ons to a threesome gone widely wrong, following an assured artist played by Wilde who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with her assistant played by Hoffman.

The buzz following the trailer’s release has been significant. Critics have hailed the film with an 89 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus describing it as one of Araki’s most accessible works yet, praising its bawdy dramedy tone and the performances from Wilde and Hoffman.

As for how explicit things actually get, the film has landed an R rating and runs 90 minutes. The Sundance premiere delivered toplessness, threesomes, dildos, ball gags and S&M, all wrapped in art world satire. Wilde herself has framed the explicit content as intentional rather than gratuitous, telling Variety that the movie is an incredibly irreverent, playful take on showing the sexual revolution of a young person, with sex used as a metaphor for something applicable to everybody’s experience.

With Sundance buzz, a seven figure bidding war, and a Rotten Tomatoes score most summer releases would kill for, ‘I Want Your Sex’ looks primed to be one of the more talked about theatrical surprises of the season. What do you think Wilde and Araki are really trying to say about power, desire, and obsession once Elliot’s fantasy job spirals out of control?