The cinema is a wonderful medium where people can tell stories about themselves and the world around them. Nothing beats heading to your local multiplex or independent movie theater and detaching from the real world for a few hours. Whether you are an action film lover or someone who prefers a stylish horror or family drama, there really is a movie for everyone, with taboo movies being a smaller genre of films that titillate and surprise.
Tabbo movies concern subjects and actions that are often looked down upon by society. There are four major types of taboos; religious taboos, social taboos, legal taboos, and sexual taboos. Movies about these taboos push the boundaries of what is right and wrong and can be shown on the big screen.
There are movies like Brokeback Mountain, depicting the forbidden love between two men, that are beautiful and tender, while others, like 9 Songs, are emotional relationship dramas that feature the actors having actual intercourse.
This article focuses on taboo movies about sex and relationships and how these stories are told on film. Many caused controversy when they were first released and starred big-time celebrities. While a list of taboo movies is subjective, we think these flicks give a good overview of forbidden love and sexual practices that highlight what taboo movies are all about.
1. Emmanuelle (1974)
Trust the French to release a sex-filled drama that got people talking. Based on the novel of the same name, Emmanuelle is softcore porn passed off as an erotic drama about a young woman visiting Thailand to chase the pleasures of the flesh.
One of the highest-grossing French movies at the time of its release, the film is packed with sex scenes as Emmanuelle takes her first female lover and experiences all manner of trysts. The film spawned two sequels and is still regarded as a classic of the softcore genre.
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2. The Brown Bunny (2004)
Vincent Gallo’s indie road movie is pretty much forgettable besides one scene that had everyone up in arms. In it, actress Chloë Sevigny performs fellatio on Gallo’s character.
Booed at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and slated by Roger Ebert as “the worst film in the history of the festival,” The Brown Bunny hasn’t aged well. The only good news is Sevigny has managed to put the controversy behind her to become one of the best female actors in the game.
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3. The Reader
Based on a German novel, The Reader depicts the relationship between a teenage boy (David Kross, portrayed as an adult by Ralph Fiennes) and a woman in her 30s (Kate Winslet) in 1958.
While the relationship between the two is taboo due to the age difference, there are greater things at work in this movie, with the plot involving the holocaust and the woman’s role in the murder of prisoners at a concentration camp. The reviews were mixed at best, but The Reader was perfect Oscar fodder and gave Winslet her first Oscar win.
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4. Cruising (1980)
After dominating the early part of the 70s with roles in The Godfather, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon, Al Pacino hit a slump, with the controversial Cruising one of his biggest missteps. Pacino plays a New York City detective who goes undercover in the world of S&M and gay bars on the hunt for a serial killer targeting homosexual men.
Critically panned and a box office flop, Cruising also drew the ire of the LGBTQIA+ community for stigmatizing the gay community. William Friedkin’s thriller is now considered a cult classic showcasing life before the AIDs pandemic hit.
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5. Wild Things (1998)
These days most people wouldn’t even blink an eye at the release of a movie like Wild Things, but back in the 90s, this was big news. Not only does it contain Kevin Bacon’s swinging dick, but a threesome between Denise Richards, Neve Campbell, and Matt Dillon.
A soft-core neo-noir thriller with plenty of twists and turns, Wild Things is everything you would expect from this type of trashy 90s flick.
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6. La Luna (1979)
Famed Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci tackles incest in the less-than-favorably reviewed La Luna. After the death of his mother’s husband, a young boy falls into drugs and develops a sexual relationship with her.
Not to everyone’s liking, the handling of the relationship between mother and son is admittedly done well, with lead actress Jill Clayburgh earning a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of the mother.
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7. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are cowboys who fall in love and carry on a secret affair from 1963 to 1983. Ang Lee’s adaptation of Annie Proulx’s short story was a critical darling that showed the taboo love between two men and went on to win three Academy Awards at the 2006 Oscars.
“If you have the patience to sit through a slow-moving romance and you lack the vanity to be put off by explicit cowboy-on-cowboy relations,” suggested Brian Marder of Hollywood.com, “you’ll greatly appreciate the light at the end of Brokeback Mountain, a work of art that’s more than just a movie.”
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8. 9½ Weeks
The 80s gave us some of the best erotic thrillers and dramas, with 9½ Weeks being one of the better efforts, although it wasn’t appreciated when it first hit cinemas. Starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger, both in their prime, the movie follows the sexual relationship that develops between the two that delves into BDSM
Tame compared to what is out there today, 9½ Weeks caused a bit of controversy thanks to its explicit sex scenes.
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9. Don’t Look Now (1973)
Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie play a married couple dealing with the recent accidental death of their daughter. Traveling to Venice to take stock of their relationship, they encounter two sisters, with one of them a clairvoyant who claims that their daughter is trying to contact them from beyond the grave.
None of that is taboo, but what got censors up in arms is the realistic sex that takes place between Sutherland and Christie during the movie. There had never been such a graphic display of coitus filmed on camera before, with Sutherland forced to issue a statement denying it was real.
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10. Lolita (1962)
This underrated gem in Stanley Kubrick’s filmography is based on Vladimir Nabokov’s famous novel of the same name. It depicts the relationship between a middle-aged teacher and a teenage girl he becomes obsessed with. It’s quite a dark story and Kubrick had to be very careful about what scenes he could shoot for the movie.
Critics were unsure how to react, with many condemning Lolita for its portrayal of child abuse while others commended Kubrick for his direction.
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11. The Age of Innocence (1993)
There have been several versions of this movie made over the years, but few are as entertaining as the 1993 take on Edith Wharton’s novel. Directed by Martin Scorsese, who brings his keen cinematic eye to the party, the story revolves around a taboo relationship between a wealthy lawyer and his wife’s cousin.
The Age of Innocence won an Academy Award for Best Costume Design and was a critical darling, with leads Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder all receiving praise for their performances.
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12. Nymphomaniac (2014)
Split into two separate movies, Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac stars Charlotte Gainsbourg as a self-diagnosed nymphomanic who tells her life story to a stranger (Stellan Skarsgård) who helps her after finding her beaten and left for dead.
The movie features a lot of sex and nudity, with body doubles used for the more graphic scenes. But as this is a von Trier film, don’t expect sensual lovemaking, with much of the sex dirty, bleak, and not at all arousing.
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13. Romance (1999)
Taboo for showing unstimulated sex on screen, Romance focuses on the relationship between a young woman whose boyfriend won’t have sex with her. Struggling to find the intimacy she needs, the woman embarks on a series of affairs, eventually leading to her engaging in an S&M relationship with an older man.
The movie is known for starring famous porn actor Rocco Siffredi, who is one of the men the woman has an affair with.
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14. 9 Songs (2004)
Another movie featuring real sex, 9 Songs comes from British writer and director Michael Winterbottom. Set over 12 months, the movie details the relationship between a British climatologist and an American exchange student, with the title referencing nine songs played by eight different bands throughout the movie that mark major moments in the couple’s relationship.
There’s a lot of sex in this movie, including fellatio, cunnilingus, masturbation, and male ejaculation. It sparked much debate and caused some film boards across the world to hand the film an X rating.
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