Five steamy movies perfect for a ‘Netflix and Chill’ weekend
“Netflix and Chill” has long been memed within an inch of its life, but come on, you have to say that Netflix has built a film catalogue that is far more adventurous about sex than the average studio romance would ever dare to be, and some of these films do not exactly blush when things get complicated.
A lot of that comes down to its international catalogue, where the definition of romance and boundaries changes as you move past two inches from one border to another. As they say, different strokes for different folks, eh?
Which is why choosing a steamy film by whichever poster shows the most skin is rather missing the point, because the interesting part is seeing where each story draws the line, or, in this case, whether it bothers drawing one at all.
So with the weekend looming, why settle for something just borderline saucy? These five films bring their own idea of what turns up the heat and might be perfect for a “Netflix and Chill” weekend.
Five steamy movies perfect for a ‘Netflix and Chill’ weekend
Secretary (Steven Shainberg, 2022)
This film should have one and only description, and that’s any HR worst nightmare, and, frankly, you can see why. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Lee Holloway, a young woman trying to find her footing after psychiatric treatment, who takes a typing job for E. Edward Grey, James Spader’s pain-in-the-ass control-freak lawyer. Sounds ordinary enough, doesn’t it? Well, give it a minute. It starts with corrections that become discipline, which nudges BDSM, and Lee discovers that submission gives her a way to understand desire that had never made much sense to her before.
Steven Shainberg adapted the film from a Mary Gaitskill short story, while Gyllenhaal said in a 2018 interview that Lee was the first role through which she could explore something close to herself in fiction. The heat in the film gets people talking, sure, yet it is far more interested in what happens when two people find an emotional language nobody else quite understands.
A True Gentleman (Onur Bilgetay, 2024)
It’s time to cross the border and enter the Turkish territory. You would think a man who earns his living making wealthy women feel adored would know every trick in the book by now, but A True Gentleman rather enjoys proving otherwise! Çağatay Ulusoy plays Saygın, an Istanbul escort whose routine works perfectly well until Serap, one of his affluent clients, offers him an exclusive arrangement. What’s that? This woman will bankroll his lifestyle, including a house and a car, if he stops sleeping with other women and belongs to her alone. Kinda like a reverse Fifty Shades but with less freaky stuff. Sounds neat enough, doesn’t it? Ah… then Nehir arrives.
Nehir is not just any woman either; she is the best friend of Serap’s daughter, Fulya, which turns an already awkward situation into a small conflict. Saygın, our man in the middle of everything, has spent years performing affection for money, only to start wanting something real. The problem is that when everything almost fell into place, he started falling for Nehir, which could cost him the life Serap is paying for. An expensive bargain indeed, but don’t you worry because in between all these clashes, there is enough blazing to keep you on your toes.
Friends with Benefits (Will Gluck, 2011)
The idea of this Netflix film sounds perfectly sensible from the title at first. Mila Kunis plays Jamie, a New York headhunter who recruits Dylan, played by Justin Timberlake, for an art-director job at GQ, and since both have had enough of romance, thank you very much, they decide sex can stay while feelings are shown the door. Foolproof, no strings attached. However, you can spot the problem before the sheets have even cooled.
Directed by Anyone But You director Will Gluck, the banter in this film is what produces the heat, because Kunis and Timberlake spend an awful lot of time insisting intimacy and attachment can be kept in separate boxes while their chemistry is, frankly, grassing them up at every turn. The ending may not exactly leave you gobsmacked, but getting there? Oh, it has plenty of va-va-voom!
More the Merrier (Paco Caballero, 2021)
With this Spanish romance, you are getting not just one but five connected stories from a Barcelona swingers’ club. One married couple turns up ready to swap partners, while another hopes the club might put a spark back into their relationship. Sounds pretty darn daring on paper, but think about it: would you really be chilled out when your partner leaves with somebody else?
That is where Paco Caballero’s comedy has a field day. Everyone walks in convinced they know what they want, but as the saying goes, talk is cheap! The film is both steamy and raunchy, so think twice before pressing play. After it ends, you might be left with the question of what couples are really prepared to admit once the boundaries disappear. Had enough heat?
MILF (Axelle Laffont, 2018)
Ending the list with a French dessert and the title is hardly playing coy, is it? But MILF has more going on than the acronym suggests. Three friends in their forties visit the south of France while Cécile gets a holiday home ready to sell, all while having a little bit of heartbreak luggage. But then, younger men start showing interest, and the summertime sadness just vanishes. Age-gap romance follows, along with the awkward little question society loves to dodge: who decided desire had an expiry date?
Axelle Laffont directs and stars alongside Virginie Ledoyen and Marie-Josée Croze, so the women are very much at the centre of the joke rather than being treated as one. The younger lovers bring the heat, but the real fun is watching these women enjoy being wanted without asking anybody’s permission.