10 Steamy Movies to Get You in the Mood on Date Night

Oh, the joy of Netflix and chill. Across different genres, movies serve a lot of purposes. Sometimes, they are meant to show a new side to a well-known historical fact; other times, they want to make audiences laugh, cry, or jump in fear. And sometimes, all a movie wants is to be erotic, provoking its audience to witness a couple’s intimacy and connection.

These erotic movies are great choices for a sexy date night or even a night of quality alone time. Featuring sizzling chemistry, beautiful people, and sometimes fantastical scenarios, these movies are the perfect, steamy choices to get viewers in the mood for a great date night.

10 ‘Body Heat’ (1981)

Director: Lawrence Kasdan

Kathleen Turner delivers a star-making performance opposite William Hurt in Laurence Kasdan‘s 1981 erotic neo-noir thriller Body Heat. Inspired by the noir classic Double Indemnity, the plot centers on a hapless lawyer who enters an affair with a seductive woman; together, they hatch a plan to kill her husband and claim the insurance policy.

Elevated by Turner’s seductive, confident, overwhelming turn, Body Heat is a sexy, engaging mystery and one of the best neo-noir movies from the ’80s. Salacious without becoming cheap, the film is an exercise in eroticism with a healthy dose of crime.

Watch on Prime Video

9 ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ (2015)

Director: Sam Taylor Johnson

Fifty Shades of Grey stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson. The film is based on the infamous eponymous 2011 novel and follows the sadomasochistic relationship between a recent college graduate and a young business magnate.

The film may be a silly bore-fest for some men, but a guy can also be a sport by taking his wife or girlfriend out to dinner and watching this movie. Fifty Shades of Grey can undeniably spark some fireworks. There is certainly a lot of sexiness on display here. Christian Grey is mega-rich and good-looking, but he is also dominant and sensitive at the same time. He is a man but also a boy, strong but wounded. Fifty Shades taps into a similar fantasy as Beauty and the Beast and Twilight and can make for a very good date night.

Watch on Hulu

8 ‘Dirty Dancing’ (1987)

Director: Emile Ardolino

Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey star in the 1987 romantic drama Dirty Dancing. The plot centers on Frances “Baby” Houseman, a teenager who develops a romance with dance instructor Johnny Castle while at a vacation resort.

Dirty Dancing has content that hasn’t aged well. However, many love the watch Johnny dance and his tough-guy yet sensitive manliness. Many also enjoy Baby’s energetic innocence. However, the film’s main draw is the incredible and alluring dance sequences and the 80s nostalgia it radiates. A surprise hit, Dirty Dancing is sexy in ways people weren’t expecting.

Watch on Paramount+

7 ‘Brokeback Mountain’ (2005)

Director: Ang Lee

Ang Lee‘s Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain is among the all-time most romantic Westerns. The film stars the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal and follows the decades-long romance between Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two cowboys in rural Wyoming.

Brokeback Mountain is a moving drama for romance-starved audiences, and the sparks between Ennis and Jack fly even as insurmountable obstacles come between them. This movie depicts the deeply affecting struggle of wanting to be with someone but not being able to because of prejudice. Powerful, sweeping, and heartbreaking, Brokeback Mountain is a one-of-a-kind romantic drama with a harrowing yet unforgettable ending.

Watch on Prime Video

6 ‘Basic Instinct’ (1992)

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Paul Verhoeven‘s massive hit, Basic Instinct, is one of the high points of the ’90s erotic thriller boom. The film stars Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone and follows a detective investigating a rock star’s murder, with all evidence pointing to the man’s girlfriend, the sexy and mysterious Catherine Tramell.

The ’90s was a decade obsessed with sex and death. Basic Instinct perfectly summarizes that era thanks to a few iconic scenes. The icepick bedroom scene and the infamous interrogation were scenes everybody was talking about when the movie was originally released. Basic Instinct is sexy and thrilling, the perfect erotic movie for fans to watch alone or with their significant other.

Watch on Prime Video

5 ‘Bitter Moon’ (1992)

Director: Roman Polanski

Bitter Moon is a great movie to watch if you want to feel grateful for your partner and remember what made you fall in love in the first place. The plot centers on the complicated sexual dynamic between two couples who meet on a cruise liner. As their lives become entangled, trouble, suspicion, and heartbreak ensue.

Bitter Moon shows how some people fall out of love because of boredom, and things have become mundane. When a relationship reaches that point, people will sometimes turn to fetishes or otherwise break new ground to hold a relationship together. Bitter Moon is cruel and spiteful but ultimately thought-provoking and enthralling, an underrated erotic film that deserves far more praise.

Rent on Amazon Prime

4 ‘Bound’ (1996)

Directors: Lana and Lily Wachowski

Bound rises thanks to Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon’s performances. Violet is the girlfriend of Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), a violent gangster. The women can’t help the attraction they have for each other and eventually begin making love, taking things to a steamy level. That’s also when it gets dangerous, as the lovers become entangled in a web of violent crime.

Sexy and thrilling, Bound is the Wachowskis’ underrated masterpiece. Powered by the outstanding performances at its center, Bound is a wonderfully subversive take on the classic thriller, injecting it with passion and unabashed feminism. With the directors’ sleek, stylish approach and two confident central performances, the film is among the best erotic thrillers of the ’90s and one of cinema’s sexiest films.

Watch on Paramount+

3 ‘9 1/2 Weeks’ (1986)

Director: Adrian Lyne

9 ½ Weeks is among the steamiest films in memory, thanks to Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. Set in 1980s New York, the film chronicles the short but intense affair between Elizabeth, an art gallery employee, and John, a roguish Wall Street broker. As their connection deepens, the two ponder the true meaning of their bond.

Elevated by the infamously steamy sex scenes that could heat the coldest hearts, 9 1/2 Weeks is provocative without becoming scandalous – at least by 2023 standards; back in 1986, it was scintillating enough to cause a ruckus. Basinger and Rourke shine in the lead roles, taking this film past the averageness of its screenplay through their electrifying chemistry.

Rent on Amazon Prime

2 ‘Sex, Lies and Videotape’ (1989)

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Steven Soderbergh‘s 1989 indie drama Sex, Lies, and Videotape stars James Spader and Andie McDowell. The film follows Graham Dalton, a troubled man who videotapes the sexual confessions of two sisters, bringing unexpected trouble into their lives.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape was not the movie people were expecting, but it ended up being sexier because of it. The core of the movie is how people are inherently wounded and harm others in a never-ending cycle of pain. People will lie, act out and do things because they have been hurt; thus, honesty, patience, and empathy are sexy traits that will guide them through the hurt and lead to true intimacy. It’s a remarkably original approach, and only a realist like Soderbergh could bring it to life.

Rent on Amazon Prime

1 ‘Secretary’ (2002)

Director: Steven Shainberg

Maggie Gyllenhaal delivered a star-making performance opposite James Spader in the 2002 erotic romantic drama Secretary. The film follows Lee, a meek young woman who forms a BDSM relationship with her awkward and fiercely private boss, Edward. Their dynamic soon evolves, and as Lee becomes more dependent on Edward, he begins to doubt his feelings for her.

It is fun and weirdly entrancing watching Lee Holloway and Edward Grey tease each other. However, the film is a deep, captivating character study about two lonely and lost souls connecting through a bond only they understand. Secretary shows how a real relationship in the BDSM world might work without any judgment, allowing Lee and Edward’s dynamic to simply exist.

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