Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £6.99 a month

Sex Is Comedy
A director struggles to film a difficult sex scene between two actors who happen to hate each other, in Catherine Breillat's witty exploration of intimacy coordination.
Director: Catherine Breillat
Overview
French cinema's arch provocateur, Catherine Breillat, investigates and attempts to understand what happens on a film shoot when scenes involving physical intimacy arise. How can something as intimate as the sexual act be captured on film? How can psychological and logical reality, along with the 'show' aspect of the act, be set aside, so that one is just left with the body? Made many years before the advent of Intimacy Coordinators on film sets, Breillat's film remains a key text on cinematic sex and bodily objectification, as well as arguably her funniest and most approachable work.
Related

Alma's Rainbow Alma's Rainbow
Comedy 1993 89 mins Director: Ayoka Chenzira
Ayoka Chenziraβs vital coming-of-age comedy about three Black women living in Brooklyn learning to embrace life and exercise their agency.

The Balconettes The Balconettes
Comedy 2024 104 mins Director: NoΓ©mie Merlant
Co-written with CΓ©line Sciamma, NoΓ©mie Merlantβs bright and bold film follows three friends as they try to dispose of the body of an abuser theyβve accidentally killed.

Barking Dogs Never Bite Barking Dogs Never Bite
Comedy 2000 111 mins Director: Bong Joon-ho
A professor takes drastic action to silence a barking dog in this superb debut feature from Bong Joon-ho, the Oscar-winning director of Parasite.

The Living Wake The Living Wake
Comedy 2007 92 mins Director: Sol Tyron
Accompanied by his faithful assistant Mills (Jesse Eisenberg), self-proclaimed genius K. Roth Binew (Mike OβConnell) decides to go out in style following a terminal prognosis β staging a living wake.

Paterson Paterson
Comedy 2016 118 mins Director: Jim Jarmusch
Adam Driver excels in this effortlessly charming tale of a bus driver poet in New Jersey, filmed with typically groovy elan by Jim Jarmusch.

The Love Witch The Love Witch
Comedy 2016 121 mins Director: Anna Biller
A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in Anna Biller's outrageous tribute to 1960s Technicolor melodramas.

Romance Romance
Drama 1999 98 mins Director: Catherine Breillat
Shockingly explicit, Catherine Breillatβs critically acclaimed Romance is one of the most controversial films of modern cinema.

Alma's Rainbow Alma's Rainbow
Comedy 1993 89 mins Director: Ayoka Chenzira
Ayoka Chenziraβs vital coming-of-age comedy about three Black women living in Brooklyn learning to embrace life and exercise their agency.

Losing Ground Losing Ground
Drama 1982 86 mins Director: Kathleen Collins
A philosophy professor and an artist reach a crisis point in their marriage, in Kathleen Collinsβ groundbreaking masterpiece.

Welcome II the Terrordome Welcome II the Terrordome
Drama 1995 94 mins Director: Ngozi Onwurah
A ferocious dystopian nightmare, this was the first film directed by a Black British woman to receive a UK theatrical release.

Naked Acts Naked Acts
Drama 1996 88 mins Director: Bridgett M. Davis
Bridgett M. Davisβs comedy about an aspiring young Black actress who lands her first major role, but thereβs a big problem: it requires a nude scene.

The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy The Cruz Brothers and Miss Malloy
Drama 1979 49 mins Director: Kathleen Collins
Kathleen Collinsβ debut feature about three brothers tasked with renovating an elderly womanβs mansion so she can host one last party before she dies.

Long Day's Journey Into Night Long Day's Journey Into Night
Drama 2018 138 mins Director: Bi Gan
Bi Gan's βdestroyed film noir' is a dazzling dive into an immersive dreamscape.