Weirdest, Wildest and Most Banned Sex Scenes in Cinema History... From Real-Life Orgy So Extreme You Can't Stream It to Nightmarish 9-Minute Rape
Aug. 16 2024, Published 4:21 p.m. ET
Angel Heart (1987)
Mickey Rourke's disturbing and nightmarish sexual scene with Lisa Bonet made Alan Parker's Angel Heart dark but unforgettable.
The harrowing moment raised eyebrows, mainly due to Bonet's innocent and wholesome image prior to working on the film. Its deep-seated sense of unease later caused Parker to cut it down and save the movie from having an X rating from the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
Antichrist (2009)
Released in 2009, the horror art film Antichrist delves into the lives of a married couple who lose their son while having intercourse. While grieving, they relocate to the woods and engage in odd sexual activities until the wife brutally mutilates her husband's private area with a block of wood.
The scene of the couple, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe, unsurprisingly leaves audiences in discomfort.
Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013)
Despite winning the Palme d'Or, Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is the Warmest Color divides viewers due to its extreme 10-minute sexual scene between Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. Branded by the public as "gratuitous," the part was filmed without cuts and even made the stars feel uncomfortable.
Exarchopoulos said of their intimate scenes: "I was supposed to touch myself and it was supposed to be my fantasy and then when I opened my eyes and saw her we laughed so much. We were embarrassed. And he shoots for such a long time, I was thinking, 'Man, you can stop there!'"
Caligula (1979)
The 1979 film Caligula follows the story of the controversial Roman emperor, Caligula. Although the subject itself was hammered by the public, its long, large-scale orgies and unsimulated sex acts garnered the most attention.
Helen Mirren, one of the film's cast members, said: "I've never opened my mouth to denigrate Caligula. I was pretty young when I made that – not physically so much as experienced in film. And you know what? It was a great experience. It was like being sent down to Dante's 'Inferno' in many ways."
Mirren described the project as "an amusing mix of art and genitals", referencing its usage of hardcore pornography.
Crash (1996)
David Cronenberg's 1996 film Crash features raw, graphic sex scenes between a couple and a group of people who get aroused by car crashes.
The unsettling fetishism made the filmmaker release R-rated and NC-17 versions in the U.S.
Cronenberg told The Guardian: "To me, movies are sex . Movies were made for sex, there’s no question about it."
Dogtooth (2009)
Dogtooth bizarrely tells the story of a family who keeps their adult children ignorant about the outside world.
The strange and disturbing sex scenes – including the part when the father coerces one of his kids into performing sexual acts – ultimately became infamous for their promotion of manipulation, control and incest.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Nicole Kidman was left uncomfortable by the 1999 movie Eyes Wide Shut, which features NSFW scenes with her then-husband, Tom Cruise. The film also includes an occult ritual scene where people participate in a full-blown orgy like robots.
Said Kidman: "Stanley [Kubrick] had to coax me into some of the sexuality in the film in the beginning, but we shot things that were a lot more extreme that didn't end up in the movie. I did feel safe – I never felt it was exploitative or unintelligent. He was very different with women than he was with men. He has daughters, so he was very paternal with me.”
Irreversible (2002)
Irreversible remains one of the most shocking films in cinema history — and one of the most disturbing ones — due to its depiction of a young girl's sexual assault. It shows the victim getting brutally attacked and raped by a man in a subway underpass for nine minutes, showing the rawness of the scene with the unbroken sequence.
Its ruthlessness, in fact, caused at least 250 people to walk out of its Cannes Film Festival screening.
Last House on The Left (1972)
Despite having a low budget, Wes Craven's horror flick Last House on The Left sparked buzz for its graphic rape scene, especially the forced intercourse between the two best friends in the flick.
Last Tango in Paris (1972)
Released in 1972, Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris follows the story of Marlon Brando's character, a widowed man, who starts a sexual relationship with a young woman, played by Maria Schneider.
Originally opened with an X rating, the film has a hair-raising and unsettling scene where the man uses butter as a lubricant before raping his victim.
Schneider later revealed the scene was not fully consensual, making it more disturbing.
Nymphomaniac (2013)
Director Lars von Trier filled his 2013 film Nymphomaniac with sadomasochistic and graphic sexual encounters between the characters, from threesomes to unsimulated intercourse.
He also added several close-up shots of genitals.
Pink Flamingos (1972)
Starring drag queen Divine, Pink Flamingos is one of those anxiety-inducing and provocative films where the character shows animalistic and primal behavior.
Among its disturbing scenes include the main star giving real oral sex to Danny Mills, her adult son in the movie.
Possession (1981)
Andrzej Żuławski's Possession depicts extremely degrading sexual acts between a woman who has been making love with a tentacled monster after asking for a divorce from her husband.
The insanely complex plot, which received divided responses after the release, still piques interest, albeit it can be a challenging watch.
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Directed by Darren Aronofsky, Requiem for a Dream follows four teenagers who deal with their respective drug addictions. At one point, one male character forces his girlfriend to perform s-- acts in front of a group of men and have intercourse with their heroin supplier.
The disturbing depiction directly reflects the dehumanizing effects of addiction, including the extent to which people are willing to take it.
Salò (1975)
Representation image only.
Eighteen teenagers are forced to be the victims of four wealthy Italians' sexual violence, sadism and torture in the 1975 film Salò, also known as 120 Days of Sodom. The scenes, set in the World War II era, depict extreme sexual acts, including a part where one of the teenage girls gets brutally assaulted in a dining hall.
The bewildering combination of sexual exploitation and violence makes it buzzworthy for the wrong reasons.
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Sausage Party (2016)
Sausage Party failed to impress most of its viewers with its constant sexual humor. The bewildering graphic sexual acts included in the film made CNC, France’s film certification board, face the public's wrath for enabling children to watch it legally due to its questionable rating.
France’s Christian Democratic party president Jean-Frédéric Poisson. said: "An orgy scene for 12-year-olds! Everything remains to be done to combat early exposure to pornography."
Society (1989)
Society's haunting finale, which shows a group engaging in sexual encounters until their violent deaths, stirred the pot. The most harrowing scene occurred when an alien seductress transforms into her true form during intercourse.
Splice (2009)
Two scientists create an animal-human monster in the film Splice. One specifically horrific plotline included Adrien Brody – whose character helped create the being – developing a romantic interest in her, leading to one of the most disturbing lovemaking scenes in the sci-fi industry.
The Devils (1971)
Representation image only.
The Ken Russell-directed 1971 drama horror film The Devils, based on Aldous Huxley's novel The Devils of Loudun, portrays nuns in a sexual frenzy.
Its blasphemous, nightmarish religious imagery and explicit content resulted in significant censorship and backlash.
