Earlier this year a TikToker posted a video explaining how she and her husband “prepared” themselves for the sex scenes in Oppenheimer featuring Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh. The influencer described how her husband would close his eyes every time there was nudity or intercourse onscreen and she would tell him when it was over. “It literally, I will tell you what right now, took nothing away from the story,” she says to the camera.

An account on X posted the video with the comment “this actually makes me feel like i’m losing my mind.” But this one clip also felt indicative of a larger trend: a growing resistance to the notion of sex in film. For the past year, it has felt like every couple of months someone tweets (or whatever we want to call that action now) a declaration that sex scenes are Bad and Unnecessary. This is followed usually by a round of people dunking on said tweet until it quiets down enough for someone else to have the same thought, and thus the cycle continues. But it’s not just anecdotal. There is actually data to back up the sensation that Gen Z is resistant to seeing sex depicted. A study from UCLA recently revealed that 47.5 percent of 13- to 24-year-olds surveyed said they didn’t think sex was necessary in movies and TV shows.

God forbid any of these people see Poor Things: the new film from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, which stars Emma Stone as Bella Baxter, a woman made anew from the dead body of a suicide victim and the brain of her unborn child. As Bella’s mind develops so does her libido, which is unearthed after she gleefully happens upon masturbation leading her down her adventure of sexual discovery. Her understanding of her own mind and the world around her corresponds with her experimentations in pleasure.

But this isn’t the only film that has used sex in crucial ways this year. In fact, with Poor Things leading the charge, this has been one of the best years in recent memory for meaningful sex scenes that are revelatory and relevant, as well as sensual. These movies all act as a counter to the notion that you can or should just close........

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