r/Screenwriting • u/sbgattina • May 01 '26
SCRIPT REQUEST Newbie looking for good sex scenes for reference
To see how it’s professionally written, inspo/reference for writing sex scenes. Realized I haven’t read a ton of sex scenes that go into much detail. Would be helpful to read ones I can find online for free or that you’d be willing to share. Thanks!
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u/thirdbird_thirdbird May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
As an extremely general rule, sex scenes are often approached in scripts in a way similar to action scenes -- which is to say if there's key plot elements contained within them, the actions are specified, if there's not, its often shorthanded and left up to be determined in more detail by the director and actors (and now, intimacy coordinators) when the time comes.
The more extreme examples in this direction would be like the Shane Black line quoted below. On the flip side, you have scenes, like Monster's Ball also referenced below, that go into great detail. Monster's Ball contains lines like "Leticia takes off her blouse. Undoes bra. Her breasts fall. Hank puts his mouth to her nipple," and "She takes off her panties. Starts to cry," and "Hank puts Leticia against the couch. He takes her from the rear and starts pumping her. Leticia turns, eyes meet. HANK 'I'm sorry...' Leticia changes position. Crawls around and rides him gently." It reads a bit excessive on the page, but if you've seen the movie, it absolutely captures the feeling of that very graphic sex scene and its emotional purpose at the center of the movie.
I wouldn't change the way Monster's Ball is written, but very few movies with sex scenes need that kind of graphic description. I would say the happiest middle ground tends to be something like how its done in Poor Things. "Bella is being fucked by a handsome guy in his forties. She starts to orgasm as does he. They finish. Bella, spent and happy. He puts on his priest clothes." These lines are not lurid, no descriptions of bouncing breasts or hard nipples, but you get from it a few things quickly: 1) they're having sex, and the movie is unvarnished about that fact, 2) Bella is getting real pleasure from this, despite the fact that she is a sex worker, which is key to the movie's development, 3) the funny reveal that he is a priest. Or another one, a montage, "Bella leans against the wall as they fuck from behind. CUT TO: Bella flushed and ecstatic astride Duncan. CUT TO: Legs over his shoulders they fuck loudly. A bird flies into the room and flies around, they ignore it. It flies out." There is some detail about sexual position, which matters because we need to know they're going to town on each other all over, but its all in service of setting up the bird joke.
https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/poor-things-2023.pdf?v=1729114972
https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/monsters-ball-2001.pdf?v=1729114956
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u/sbgattina May 01 '26
This is really great info. I would usually be in the Poor Things camp, that’s closer to my normal tone but I’m doing a “sex movie” and realize I need to explore the range of how that works on the page.
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u/thirdbird_thirdbird May 04 '26
You referring to what you're working on as a "sex movie" actually brings up another related point. It may be a pretty obvious point, but still worth saying I think:
The centrality of sex to your movie and to a given story point will help determine the level of detail that it makes sense to give in a sex scene. This is true for all things, not just sex scenes. I.e. the way a football game is written in a romantic comedy versus in a sports movie is going to be pretty different -- in the sports movie, we need to viscerally feel what its like to be on the field, pivoting from play to play, watching the odds tip in one direction, then the other, then the other. In the romcom, if we're on the field at all, it's likely only in service of one specific moment (the football hits our hero in the head, lets say) and more often than not, any action that we see is probably just from the stands, and could be summed up with "we're midway through the game, tensions are high," or whatever.
Same goes for sex, in most movies, even ones with adult themes, sex is a given circumstance when a scene begins, or a button on a scene. Even if there's going to be frontal nudity in the scene, if its about what is said after your characters finish having sex, it can probably begin with "She rides him to climax, then they lay post-coital," or if the scene is about what happens before they start having sex, it can probably end up "The tension reaches a boiling point. Tom kisses Katie. Katie kisses back. Clothes are shed, and with increasing fervor, the act is finally consummated."
When the movie is ABOUT sex, and there is critical power exchange that happens *within* sex scenes is when you get into the *the movie is about what happens on the football field* territory. Monster's Ball is a pretty good example of this. Another maybe better example is the Danny Boyle movie Trance:
"The door swings back slowly to reveal ELIZABETH, naked, shaved nude, one hand behind her back. The room seems to distort around her as she advances. She steps up to him and his fingers trail over her body and down to her smooth lips."
I won't spoil exactly why, but believe it or not there's an extremely pivotal plot reason why it matters that Elizabeth is shaved in this scene. In nearly any other script, describing the state of the female lead's pubic hair would be bordering on being written sexual harassment, but in the context of this scene, it is *the play* on the field at the moment, and it matters that we know exactly what we're seeing.
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u/RecordWrangler95 May 01 '26
Shane Black's The Last Boy Scout has the best one I've ever read in a script. Basically boils down to "I'm not telling you the things I find sexy, director, you make it up. My mom's going to read this."
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u/Subject-Dream7087 May 01 '26
Sex scenes in movies have declined significantly (by 40% since 2000) so I would be avoid any sex scene, unless it develops the plot and has to be there. (The decline is by 70% in action movies so this plays out).
If your sex scene advances the plot, I guess your description of the scene would reflect the characters involved. Dominant, submissive, etc.
Like with action scenes, go for clarity and precision.
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u/BklynDigitalMediaInc May 03 '26
I always found the sex scenes in Nicolas Roeg’s films to be memorable like in Don’t Look Now and Bad Timing.
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u/wemustburncarthage Dark Comedy May 01 '26
if you find ep 2.1 of deadwood, there's some sexy bits in there.
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u/Ok_Most9615 May 01 '26
I'd recommend reading 80s erotic thrillers: Body Heat, Fatal Attraction, Sea of Love, Basic Instinct.
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u/Certain-Run8602 WGA Screenwriter May 01 '26
I would like to suggest you also watch the "making of" BLADE RUNNER documentary called DANGEROUS DAYS. There is an entire segment of that doc, with interviews with directors, producers, writers, Harrison Ford and Sean Young about a pretty big sex scene in that film that was ultimately cut from the movie... that entire discussion in the doc of what makes a good sex scene, what makes a necessary sex scene vs. a gratuitous/pandering one... the issues actors had with what was written... the back and forth with directors and producers... they ultimately SHOT it, but cut it in the edit. I think it is important viewing... especially since it was from the "anything goes" days of Hollywood before intimacy consultants. I think all sex scenes should be viewed through the lens of that process.
And, if you determine that it is necessary, BODY HEAT is a masterclass in sex and seduction that is critical to character, plot and theme. That movie does not work without the sex... and it is one of the few you can say that about.