What’s ‘Love’ Got To Do With It? Ten More Boundary-Pushing Films Of The New Millennium

Ang Lee’s trailblazing short story adaptation might be the least graphic pick on this list, but circa 2005, no one could stop talking about this movie. But Jake Gyllenhaal’s and Heath Ledger’s cowboy love affair did more than just get people talking about whether or not it was good for the gays; it also snagged three Oscars, including Best Director. [Where to stream Brokeback Mountain]

While incest and dominance are key themes in Yorgos Lanthimos’ stunning drama, it’s the Greek director’s depiction of what utter naïveté looks like that makes Dogtooth so bold and original. Told through the eyes of three housebound teenage siblings forced to stay within the confines of their family’s gated estate (until they grow old enough and “lose their dogtooth”), the film follows the oldest girl’s slow but steady rebellion against her father’s abusive dictatorship. [Where to stream Dogtooth]

After Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee directed the far less buzzworthy, but equally intriguing (and exquisitely directed) erotic thriller, Lust, Caution. Following a young virgin’s undercover seduction of a older Japanese politico, the film features three violent sex scenes that faced harsh censorship upon release. Though the film swept in many awards categories oversees, the Academy overlooked Lee’s film completely, as the director decided to release an uncut version in the United States rather than have it carry an NC-17 rating. [Where to stream Lust, Caution]

Before E.L. James gave moms everywhere something to talk about with Fifty Shades of Grey and its ultimately safe film adaptation, James Spader was cluing Maggie Gyllenhaal in on the nature of BDSM. After her release from a mental institution, the unstable Lee (Gyllenhaal) is hired as a legal secretary under the sadistic Mr. Grey (Spader), who’s adamant about making his domineering fantasies a workplace reality. [Where to stream Secretary]

Master of the provocative, Italian auteur Bernardo Bertolucci (Last Tango in Paris, Stealing Beauty) delves into two of his favorite subjects in The Dreamers: domineering sexual behavior and revolution. A stunningly framed peek into the dreamscape of too close French siblings (played by Eva Green and Louis Garrel) and their naïve American roommate (Michael Pitt), the film explores elements of self-discovery and self-hatred through the eyes of three young people living in Paris during the 1968 student riots. [Where to stream The Dreamers]

Before Children of Men and Gravity, Mexican visionary Alfonso Cuarón invited us to be flies on the wall in his coming-of-age love triangle, Y Tu Mamá También, or, And Your Mother Too. Told through the eyes of young Tenoch (Diego Luna) and his best friend Julio (Gael García Bernal), a road trip adventure evolves to become an oedipal love triangle when Luisa (Maribel Verdú), a married woman in her late twenties, accompanies them. [Where to stream Y Tu Mamá También]

In addition to inspiring endless endowment comments in relation to Michael Fassbender’s, well, sizable endowment, Steve McQueen’s Shame is a profoundly moving exploration into the mind of a sex addict. But rather than fall into the eye-rolling realm of “poor, handsome, white dude,” our tortured bachelor drags us through Manhattan’s sensual underbelly — a world any outsider would surely find enticing — before locking us in to witness his tragic psychological unraveling. [Where to stream Shame]

It seems as if films with explicit sexuality at their core often go out of their way to end on an unlikable note. Not so with the case with Abdellatif Kechiche’s interpretation of Blue Is the Warmest Color, which is based on the French graphic novel of the same name. Starring Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux, the blue-hued lesbian love story intimately explores one high school student love affair with a slightly older artist through visceral sex scenes and passionate breakdowns between two characters reeling with the realization that, while they may very well be soul mates, they can’t ever be together. [Where to stream Blue is the Warmest Color]

Before Love, Gaspar Noé made a name for himself with Irreversible, a graphic and violent reverse chronological sexcapade famous for its explicit and extensive rape scene. Starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, and Albert Dupontel, Irréversible is a must-see visual feat that is guaranteed to make you fee something, if not the sigh of relief that comes after the very last scene. [Where to stream Irreversible]

Even for the utterly shameless, Nymphomaniac‘s gratuitous use of unsimulated sex will have even the most gung-ho Lars von Trier fan needing a break after the five-hour mark. Like all of his work, both volumes of the Danish director’s sex epic are visual masterpieces, yet — again, similar to his entire filmography — Nymphomaniac leaves you with an unnerving pit in your stomach rather than the urge to get it on. [Where to stream Nymphomaniac Vol. I and Vol. II]

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