With the new “romantasy” craze becoming steadily popular in the realm of literature and HBO making headlines with the incredibly intimate and sexy show Heated Rivalry in 2025, it’s clear that sexy/steamy is back in style. Although it’s not as if movies haven’t been sexy up until this point, with the famous Fifty Shades of Grey taking over headlines from 2015 to 2018. But the expectation for quality has risen, and audiences are having a harder time settling for cliché tropes, bad chemistry, and a lack of tension or emotion behind actions.
Ironically, when one wants to find some of the best steamy movies of all time, it’s best to look back in time or in a foreign country. The United States has notoriously struggled with including sensuality and sex in its movies due to a higher censorship culture regarding sex and strict ratings. In the movies that do include it, there’s been a lack of diversity in the type of stories being told, or an unnaturalness to how the sex is portrayed. But, some smaller movies from the past have done this well, as have many foreign films.
Body Heat Takes the Word Steamy Almost Too Seriously
A great example of the neo-noir genre from the 80s, Body Heat was influenced by the 1944 movie and 1943 book Double Indemnity. All three share a similar idea: a businessman falls for a rich, married woman, and the two of them scheme a plot to murder her husband for his money (although they differ in how this happens and the extent to which the male lover is involved), and the affair ends in betrayal. Of course, the occupations, scheme of murder, betrayal, and end scenes are all different, but the sensual tension in them all is palpable.
Body Heat, released in 1981, is steamy for a few key reasons. First, there’s the clear chemistry and tension between the leads, Kathleen Turner and William Hurt. Their relationship is intense, and this intensity feels etched into their every interaction. Then, of course, there’s the sex. It’s frequent and explicit, highlighting the quick passion they found for each other.
But then, there’s the actual steam. The movie takes place in Florida during a fierce heatwave. The consistent heat of the weather is all-consuming in a way that reflects the relationship between the lovers, but heat has a way of draining people, and the heatwave does this. As the movie continues, the high heat of the weather and their relationship begin to wear down thought processes and bring out the worst in them both.
Controlling Love Goes One Step Too Far in 9 1/2 Weeks
This is the movie that the controversial Fifty Shades of Grey wishes it could be. This 1986 movie shows how a lack of boundaries in a relationship, especially a sexual one, can quickly turn toxic. When the protagonist Elizabeth falls for Wall Street broker John, the two of them quickly spiral into a world of dominance versus submission, sex plays in public, general BDSM, indulging fetishes, and more. Soon, Elizabeth realizes that John has psychosexual control over her that’s causing her to lose her sense of self, and she leaves him.
The title 9 1/2 Weeks refers to the amount of time that John and Elizabeth spent together. During this time, the movie starts with a steamy exploration into kinkier sex play. The chemistry between the two leads, played by Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke, is electric, and audiences understand why the two of them keep getting pulled back together. Throughout the movie, even as control starts to take over, the scenes are filmed in the most sultry way possible, using light and camera angles to give audiences a feel of sensuality even beyond the explicit sex scenes.
Blue Is the Warmest Colour Is Languid and Raw in Its Sensuality
This 2013 French film feels a bit like a mix of Call Me By Your Name and The Worst Person in the World, but French, of course. Except, although it shares very similar themes of passionate love, exploration, and evolving relationships, Blue Is the Warmest Colour is much more raw than the other films. It shares the story of Adèle as she falls for Emma, realizing that what she couldn’t feel in relationships with men, she can feel with women.
Emma, being older and self-actualized, introduces Adèle to her world, and the two begin a loving relationship. But the years pass, and cracks form in their relationship, ending with an affair that results in Adèle being kicked out. More time passes, and Adèle still can’t move on, but sees that Emma is happy with someone else, and she attempts to try and find peace with where their relationship is at present, and everything it gave her.
Originally a graphic novel, this movie is famously steamy, with a noted 10-minute explicit sex scene, in addition to other sex or sensual scenes throughout the film. The director held nothing back, and scenes were meant to be as realistic as possible, with sweat, sounds, and intense emotions. Some believe the scenes are a bit gratuitous, but it’s undeniable that these long, frequent scenes helped establish the passion between the lovers and explain why Adèle had a hard time letting go.
Heartbreaking and Clever, The Handmaiden Is a Masterpiece
Perhaps the most famous movie on this list due to its status as an underrated masterpiece, The Handmaiden dazzled critics upon its release in 2016 and, despite being underrated, has won a fair number of awards. Adapted from a novel from the United Kingdom, this South Korean movie tells the story of a heist gone wrong. Set in the 30s when Japan occupied Korea, the film follows Sook-hee, a pickpocket, who is put into the employment of a wealthy Japanese woman by Count Fujiwara, who pulls strings from behind the scenes.
The movie is told in three parts, with each new part revealing that the audience has been tricked up until that moment. The heiress, Lady Hideko, knew all along about the scheme and was in on it, with the intention of double-crossing Sook-hee. But love came into the picture. The two women, who had been controlled by other men for years in various (and horrifying) ways, found affection and companionship in each other and eventually engaged in an explicit, frequent sexual relationship after a great deal of steamy tension.
In The Handmaiden, sexuality is a weapon, but sex is freedom. The women, especially Lady Hideko, have been highly fetishized and abused throughout their lives. Although this begins as a trauma, it is also a weapon by the end of the film. But then, as Hideko and Sook-hee fall for each other, their sexual relationship becomes their freedom from the control of men. In this way, the sex scenes are not only deeply sensual, but also extremely emotional.
In the Realm of the Senses Takes Sex Scenes to a Whole Different Level
Beyond steamy, beyond sensual, beyond sexy… this film is downright graphic. Overall, it’s a statement against censorship, as stated by the director Nagisa Ōshima, but it’s also deeply artistic. For it to be made and to not be classified as a “pink film” (pornographic film) in Japan, a collaboration between Japanese and French studios came into fruition. Then, to add another layer, the story is also based on a true story, based on the famous 1936 murder in Japan where Sada Abe killed her lover.
In the 1976 movie, Sada Abe, a former geisha and prostitute, works at a hotel and begins an intense affair with the married hotel owner. The two fall madly in love with each other, and their love borders on infatuation until a point where it becomes full obsession. Their love and sexual relationship grow more violent, although the two appear to enjoy this new aspect. That is, until Sada accidentally strangles her lover Ishida to death. After doing so, her obsession leads her to cut off his penis and keep it with her for days as she walks around.
The sex scenes, as mentioned, are extremely graphic. This only elevates in intensity once the two of them lock themselves in an inn to be with only each other. But this was the point, as the director wanted to represent how sexually repressed Japan was at the time, and how such repression can lead to catastrophic results. The repression made their love turn to madness and gluttony, forever not able to satiate their lust for each other.
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