BDSM in Cinema – 5 Essential Films that Deserve a Crack (of the Whip)

Recently, the subject of sex in cinema has been a hot topic. Some have suggested sex on screen has become a passionless exercise in time-filling, with films like 365 Days and Fifty Shades of Grey lacking any real fire or depth even as they attempt to depict the erotica of BDSM. Others feel sex simply has no place at all in the viewing experience of the modern movie-goer. However, the rich history of sex – and more specifically BDSM – on film proves that lovemaking and moviemaking have been potent bedfellows for decades. Here are five key pieces of BDSM cinema to tickle (and slap) your fancy.

1. Belle de Jour – Luis Buñuel (1967)

Spanish auteur Luis Buñuel’s Belle de Jour is a perfect starting point for any budding BDSM cineaste. Catherine Deneuve stars as Severine, a 23-year-old surgeon’s wife who, unfulfilled in her humdrum marriage, escapes through her mind’s eye into fantastical realms of masochism. When an opportunity comes her way to indulge her fantasies working part-time at a Parisian brothel, Severine’s eyes – and ours – are opened to a world of kink and desire that is a sensory delight. Buñuel’s film explores the instinctive nature of desire brilliantly, and through allusion more often than graphic presentation, creates a perennial, arguably definitive, work of BDSM cinema. It’s so important, it might have you thinking – is there a mistress near me…?

2. Hellraiser – Clive Barker (1987)

“Who are you?” youngster Julia asks Pinhead after semi-accidentally opening the Oriental puzzlebox that summons Clive Barker’s leather-clad creation and his Cenobite cohort. “Explorers in the further regions of experience. Demons to some. Angels to others,” Pinhead responds, capturing the BDSM roots of Barker’s cult horror classic Hellraiser, which brought S&M from the underground to the mainstream in 1987. Though an extreme example of BDSM in film, Hellraiser explores consent and trust – which are intrinsic to the safe practise of sadomasochistic sexual exploration – brilliantly through the lens of horror. This is a must-watch, best followed by a cold shower.

3. Crash – David Cronenberg (1996)

David Cronenberg’s Crash is masterful filmmaking. James Spader plays ennui-stricken director James Ballard. After a near-fatal car crash, James meets fellow survivor Helen (Holly Hunter), and photographer Vaughan (Elias Koteas), who recreates celeb car crashes with a cult-like group. Rather than scarring James and Helen, the crash exhilirates the pair, and soon James, wife Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger), and Helen, all find themselves immersed in Vaughan’s fetishistic world where metal, fornication, and mutilation represent the ultimate erotic thrill. With clinical precision, Cronenberg creates a challenging work of art that interrogates whilst intrinsically understanding the psychological depths of humans’ sexual vices.

4. Secretary – Steven Shainberg (2002)

James Spader features again in Steven Shainberg’s Secretary, arguably the best work of BDSM cinema to date. An extraordinary Maggie Gyllenhaal stars as Lee, a young woman recently released from a psychiatric institute. Taking the position of secretary to Spader’s obsessive-compulsive Mr Grey, the naive Lee finds herself responding strongly, and crucially positively, to her new boss’ demanding and meticulous nature. As the pair’s employer-employee relationship ratchets up several notches, sparked by an unforgettable ‘first spanking’ scene, an oftentimes liberating story of invited control and consent unfurls. Part rom-com, part psychological drama, Secretary empathetically portrays the healing potential of kink. You can learn more about the femdom community here.

5. Dogs Don’t Wear Pants – J-P Valkeapää (2019)

J-P Valkeapää’s Dogs Don’t Wear Pants is a film as given to tenderness as to torturous titillation. Having tragically lost his wife a decade ago, heart surgeon Juha (Pekka Strang) drifts through life in a haze of grief and asphyxiation-centred masturbation. When he takes daughter Elli (Ilona Huhta) for a birthday piercing, Juha strays into the path of dominatrix Mona (Krista Kosonen). As Mona’s extreme practices test his limits, Juha finds his deceased wife somehow returning to him in the spaces between pain and release. Drenched in neon, clad in leather, and brimming with pathos, Valkeapää’s film leaves a mark.