It’s the most unnerving portrait of sex as an escapist drug since Michael Fassbender’s downward spiral in “Shame,” as Tomas’ kink seems tied to any semblance of stability - it’s his kink, and he couldn’t escape it even if he tried. Later, a prolonged sex scene with Martin illustrates the degree to which Tomas feels most aroused by the person who provides an escape from his most stable surroundings. His head swirling with confusion, Tomas throws himself into another heated encounter with his new paramour, but grows weary of the connection once the potential for commitment comes in. Tomas finds himself so energized by the tryst that he instantly brags about it to Martin, who reacts with understandable frustration.

In the elegant, stripped-down story, Paris-based director Tomas (Franz Rogowski) cheats on his husband Martin (Ben Whishaw) with a young woman (Adele Exarchopoulos) whom he meets in a bar after his latest production. Sex has a more liberating undercurrent in Ira Sachs’ “Passages,” though the veteran filmmaker uses a series of passionate encounters to illustrate the deterioration of romance. When Emily gets promoted, and becomes Luke’s manager, the dynamic is clear to everyone but him. In her taut debut, the power couple of Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) can’t seem to agree on who holds more power: Both work in a cutthroat financial firm that dominates their lives. While mainstream American cinema still treats the subject as taboo – beyond a fleeting sequence in “Eternals,” no one gets down in a Marvel movie - our preeminent cinematic vessel for marginalized perspectives provided some bracing, somber alternatives, often tinged with acid-tongued humor.įrom the moment the hotshot couple at the center of “Fair Play” sneak off to the bathroom for a quickie, only to wind up bathed in period blood, it’s clear that writer-director Chloe Domont isn’t here to sanitize her subject. Last year’s edition had a few hot takes ranging from Emma Thompson’s empowering decision to bare all in the moving “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” to Lena Dunham’s curious exploration of a ravenous teen’s post-hysterectomy horniness in “Sharp Stick.” This time, Sundance movies confronted sexuality through a darker, even tragic lens. Moral outrage may be in vogue and cancel culture always lurks, but sex was everywhere at this year’s Sundance.

Fool of death with your beauty