One of the pillars of the New Queer Cinema movement is back. After more than a decade without making a feature film, Gregg Araki returns with I Want Your Sex. It sounds exactly like the kind of film you would expect from him: an erotic comedy thriller starring Olivia Wilde as a dominatrix taking on Cooper Hoffman as her submissive.

Originally intended to be shot straight after his last feature, 2014’s White Bird in a Blizzard, the film had its funding pulled, sending it into long-term limbo. Although he has been away from feature filmmaking, the director has been keeping busy on the small screen, with television credits including 13 Reasons Why, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and American Gigolo, as well as creating his own television show, Now Apocalypse. But the wait is finally over. Araki is back, and of course, he has something to say.

Known as a provocateur, and sometimes described as the John Waters of Generation X, Araki has carried his punk aesthetic throughout his films. But what exactly is this punk aesthetic?

It is a focus on the outsider, created by an outsider, with a sense of nihilism, fluidity and rebellion. Having made his first two features, Three Bewildered People in the Night and The Long Weekend (O’ Despair), for just $5,000 each, he has maintained a strong do-it-yourself spirit, just getting up and making something happen. This attitude can be seen in both the creation and content of his films. Punk isn’t just his aesthetic. It’s his philosophy. 

This philosophy is made abundantly clear to the audience from the opening moments of many of his films, with title cards making declarations such as “another homo movie by Gregg Araki” or “A Heterosexual Movie by Gregg Araki”. You are in his world now. If you don’t like it, there’s the door. 

Best known for his Teen Apocalypse trilogy, he focused on the anger and frustration of young nihilism in a world that didn’t seem to be listening. The trilogy, consisting of Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation and Nowhere, carries this bleak sense of not belonging as its throughline.

 

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The most nihilistic of the three, The Doom Generation, will be screened in anticipation of his new feature at the Light House Cinema on August 15 and should not be missed by any Araki fan. It is an angry yet darkly comedic film centred around a bizarre love-triangle road trip, with almost every person the group encounters trying to kill them. This reflects the sensibility of queer people being under constant threat or danger, of young, alternative people being challenged at every opportunity, of the world closing in on them until eventually it does.

Filled with hyper-violence and sexuality, he captures the grunge mentality of an entire generation, oozing with temper, frustration and a general sense of being lost in a modern world that doesn’t care.

So, has Araki changed? Speaking to IndieWire, he had this to say regarding The Doom Generation and his latest film: “I always called ‘Doom Generation’ my Nine Inch Nails movie. It was so angry and nihilistic. With this movie, I’m older. I’m in a very good place.”

Has the director abandoned his cynicism in favour of something more positive?

At the age of 66, the filmmaker’s punk philosophy is also reaching a whole new generation. Speaking to The Guardian about Gen Z, Araki said, “It’s like [they have] a fear of making a mistake, or being uncomfortable or of having an experience that’s not wonderful. A lot of those experiences are not wonderful!

“The first time you ever get your heart broken or someone cheats on you, it really rocks your world. I just can’t imagine going through life without that experience.”

Araki made the comments after reading about a survey suggesting that this generation is having less sex than the previous. Rather than shy away from the subject, he appears ready to embrace it, exploring sexuality in an unapologetic and unashamed way. The world may still be burning, but try to embrace some anarchy in your life; take the risks you’re afraid of taking before it’s too late.

Nothing about the filmmaker’s punk philosophy has ever been perfect. Chaos is sometimes inevitable and should be embraced on occasion. Punk is not about perfection. Punk is about taking risks, something Araki has been doing throughout his entire career and continues to do. 

Don’t miss Gregg Araki’s new film I Want Your Sex, releasing in Irish cinemas on August 28, 2026.