# Gregg Araki on sex, film and queer resistance: ‘All the terrible shit in the world is because of sexual repression’

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/gregg-araki-on-sex-film-and-queer-resistance-all-the-terrible-shit-in-the-world-is-because-of-sexual-repression/
- Published: 2026-08-01T09:00:49+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-26T00:07:33+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/aug/01/gregg-araki-film-i-want-your-sex
- Topics: Americas, Culture, Entertainment, Film, Geopolitics, Politics, Research, Science, World

## Key points

- Gregg Araki's 12th film, I Want Your Sex, opens on 700 US screens.
- The comedy reworks a #MeToo-era script by reversing its gender power dynamic.
- Araki says sexual repression underlies much of the world's problems today.

## Summary

Gregg Araki, the veteran queer film-maker, has released his 12th feature, I Want Your Sex, a provocative comedy exploring desire and power that he describes as fundamentally queer despite its heterosexual central relationship. The film marks a milestone for the 66-year-old director, who has spent four decades making anarchic, boundary-pushing cinema, as it opens on 700 US screens, a notably wide release for an independent film and one that suggests Hollywood has finally caught up with his sensibility.

The story follows a young graduate, played by Cooper Hoffman, who becomes sexually and creatively enthralled by a domineering artist, played by Olivia Wilde, with a cast that also includes Charli xcx, Johnny Knoxville and Margaret Cho. Araki explained the project began years earlier as a more conventional tale of a male boss seducing a female intern, but he reworked it after the #MeToo movement made him uneasy with its power dynamics, ultimately flipping the roles so a woman dominates a male submissive. He also drew on a 2022 study suggesting Gen Z are having less sex than previous generations, using the film to champion "queer joy and positivity" amid what he calls a repressive and troubled world.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.