Weekend Guide: Erotic/Thrillers
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Everyone laughs about sex, even though we all know that it can sow discord, make us unhappy, generate violence, drive us to desperation and death.
Erotic thrillers are back on the big (and little) screen. It’s about time the powers that be started making content for adults again!
This comes as welcome news for an erotic thriller head like myself. Good timing. I needed to take a break from watching the 1992 Paul Verhoeven classic, Basic Instinct. Truly the only move that matters.
Streaming platforms seem to be conjuring up more of this type of content. It could be the algorithm speaking to me, but with new titles being made like The Voyeurs (good fun film to watch), i’ve got to be on to something.
As a genre fan I was excited to see the film Deep Water make it’s debut on the Hulu streaming network a few weeks back. I was sold hard by the trailer, and the fact that it was directed by Adrian Lyne, of Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal fame. Two of the all time greats.
It is not a classic of the genre, but it’s a step in the right direction for the collective content consuming public. Dark and deeply unsettling if you are a fan of the traditional monogamous relationship. Affleck does his Affleck thing. Ana de Armas is amazing and should run for President of the world. All around winner. Must watch. Keep ‘em coming!
If you’ve got any great erotic thriller recommendations for your old man here leave then below. I know. I know. You don’t come here to talk movies. Onwards.
If you read novels, you’ll know that this type of content never really left the publishing world. Writing about well-to-do north-easterners having illicit sex has historically been a tried and true way to land on the best seller list. John Updike made a career of it, and from what I can gather, Sally Rooney is doing the same, but with sexy Irish folk.
Writing about sex is difficult. I’ve found that the best way to write about sex, is to not write the sex at all. Show, don’t tell.
Reading poorly written sex is painful. Stephen King is world famous for how piss-poor he writes sex. Check him out for examples of how not to write sex. But that’s another post altogether.
Domcino Starnone on the other hand is great at writing about sex. Mainly because he never actually writes sex. He writes about the space around sex. The tension prior, and the inevitable damage after. He is a relationship story master.
I wrote briefly about Trust a few months back. It was my first foray into the world of Starnone. I loved Trust. I’m not sure why it took me so long to pick up Ties. But I finally did, and it rocks.
Short and matter-of-fact. Ties is a story about how sex has the power to destroy. It is about a marraige that has, on the surface, survived decades of tumult. Sounds boring. Sure. But we all know the devil is in the details. Trust me!
Give it a shot if you like Ferrante, erotic thrillers, or pretty much any other writer Europa Editions puts out. There is something about these Italians. Thanks for tapping in. Stay tuned. Keep it locked. Peace and love.
As always, I would appreciate you sharing this with your best friend, or even your romantic partner. I will leave the the links right here. Peace and love ❤️ .
In other news, the Brooklyn Public Library is offering free eCards to teens nationwide to help curtail the negative impact of increased censorship and book bans in libraries across the country. Ben Simmons will probably never play another game in the NBA. And this Hotline TNT song “Boundary” has been on repeat.
That Hotline TNT song is soo good~
I watched Indecent Proposal for the first time years and years ago, and my Catholic-raised monogamy-loving young mind was not ready for that. I was so angry at it, which of course looking back is why it's so brilliant.