Sex in TV and film is something that we're all used to seeing by now, but unsimulated intercourse is still relatively novel.
When we're not watching non-pornographic movies, there's an expectation that what we're seeing is a carefully crafted scene with coverings, fake sex, and a lot of people on set to ensure it looks as real as possible. But when they started adding real sex to films, there became a massive debate around it.
Particularly when it came to viewer consent.
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I mean, if I'm not watching porn, I'm expecting to not unknowingly watch porn. However, there are still dozens of films with unsimulated sex scenes in them.
With that said, we've helped you out and selected a handful of films that you can either avoid, or run towards.
Nymphomaniac (2013)
This is probably one of the most known films out there where sex is plated up on the table.
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Directed by Lars Von Trier, the films follow a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac who tells her experiences in the bedroom to a man who saves her from harm.
The first of the series hit our screens in 2013 and stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Willem Dafoe, Connie Nielsen, and Mia Goth.
LaBeouf later claimed that Nymphomaniac had a disclaimer 'that basically says we're doing it for real'.
However, producer, Louise Vesth, shared to The Hollywood Reporter that body doubles were used for the sex and digitally imposed that over the actors.
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"We shot the actors pretending to have sex and then had the body doubles, who really did have sex, and in post (production) we will digital-impose the two,” she explained. "So above the waist it will be the star and then below the waist it will be the doubles."
Dogtooth (2009)
Next up is the horror-comedy, Dogtooth, directed by Poor Things creator Yorgos Lanthimos.
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The Greek psychological drama follows the lives of three teenagers who are confined to listening to homemade tapes as they spend time at their isolated house by their controlling father hellbent on keeping his children in a stifling state of perpetual childhood by keeping them prisoner.
According to the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification), there was ‘real’ unsimulated sex in the film.
The classification explained that this was to 'establish the unusual and dysfunctional lifestyle that results from the isolation orchestrated by the dictatorial father, including incest'.
Love (2015)
When Love first hit cinemas in 2015, it became pretty much everyone's new favourite indie flick.
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Directed by Gaspar Noé, the film is set in Paris and follows Murphy who enters an intense relationship with Electra, who is pretty mentally unstable.
Clearly unaware of the effect it will have on their love, the pair decide to spice up their romance by introducing a third partner into the mix; their neighbour.
Noé explained why real sex scenes were filmed for the film, saying: "The good thing about this movie is all the people I proposed to be on-screen knew my previous movies and knew we were doing something valuable, a real movie about a real subject — love — and not something dirty.
"Almost every [male] actor I approached about doing the specific scenes was happy to do it. Men have no issues especially about showing their penis erect."
Noting the difference between film and porn, he added: "In what you call 'adult movies' there are no feelings at all. You never see people kissing or talking about pregnancy.
"You never see any girl having her periods and you never see a girl with regular pubic hair. It’s like a separate world that has nothing to do with normal life.
"What I wanted to do is represent in cinema something that’s important for me that for commercial reasons isn’t represented properly. The system of cinema rating is totally old- fashioned."
Below Her Mouth (2016)
The April Mullen-directed indie romance-drama, Below Her Mouth, follows Jasmine, a successful fashion editor living with her fiancé, who ends up meeting Dallas on a night out.
Dallas then pursues Jasmine until she finally succumbs to the temptation and the women soon embark on a steamy affair that forces them both to really take a look at their lives.
Explaining her decision to portray sexual encounters in an 'authentic' way, Mullen told GO Magazine: "I would say probably I put the most intention in this film into the actresses and the sex scenes and how to portray those in an authentic, new, refreshing female perspective.
"So for me, it was trying to delete and erase all of the images and advertisements I had seen about sex since the age of five.
"Because I’ve been exposed to so many things, but all of those things are written by men or directed by men or made for male audiences."
Blue Is the Warmest Colour (2013)
Now, this is one of my favourite indie films of all time.
The French romance film, which is a delightful three hours long, helped launch the careers of both Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos.
Exarchopoulos plays Adèle, a young student confused about her sexuality after breaking up with her boyfriend, while Seydoux plays Emma - a beautiful aspiring painter.
The film follows their lesbian sexual relationship from Adèle's high school years to her early adult life and career as a schoolteacher.
However, everything takes a turn for the worse when a life-shattering cheating scandal eventually unfolds.
Seydoux opened up about shooting the film, explaining that while a lot of the adult scenes had very real elements involved - it wasn't all totally unsimulated.
"We had pretend p*ssies," she told the Metro. "So it was easier because it was like protection between us and made it more comfortable."
Topics: LGBTQ, Sex and Relationships, TV And Film
Britt Jones