Erotic thrillers is one sub-genre that doesn’t get the love it deserves. It’s not easy to balance sexy with scary, which is probably why Bollywood is filled with a library of B-grade films featuring loose plots and women with garish makeup. However, over the years, quite a few movies have hit the bullseye with erotic thrillers without turning caricaturish.
The genre truly peaked in Hollywood during the 1980s, with films like Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, and Eyes Wide Shut. Their influence finally seeped into Bollywood in the early 2000s, giving us bold and scandalous films like Hate Story and Aitraaz. After this initial wave, the genre went quiet, held back by strict censorship laws. But thanks to streaming platforms, erotic thrillers are making a comeback. Recent hits like 365 days and The Voyeurs prove that there’s still an appetite for sexy films that edge on the line of scary. From timeless classics to steamy new streaming releases, here are the 10 best erotic thrillers of all time.
Aitraaz (2004)
Priyanka Chopra Jonas is now a global household name, but Aitraaz is the film that truly solidified her fame and set the course for her career. In the movie, she plays Sonia, a scheming and ambitious woman who tries to frame her ex-lover for sexual harassment after he rejects her unwanted advances. Directed by Abbas-Mustan, the story is loosely inspired by the sexual harassment allegations faced by Kobe Bryant. Chopra plays the role of the sexy seductress and femme fatale to perfection, proving early in her career that she wasn’t afraid to break free from mainstream roles and embrace more challenging, morally complex characters.
Fatal Attraction (1987)
Few things scream erotic thriller like an affair gone wrong, but it was Fatal Attraction that took this common trope and turned it into a genre-defining blueprint. Widely considered a pop culture phenomenon, the movie tells a simple story about a picture-perfect family, and what happens to them when the husband and father has an extramarital affair with an unhinged woman who will stop at nothing to exact revenge after being rejected. The movie is spellbinding, psychologically intense, and disturbingly real, turning everyday infidelity into a full-blown nightmare.
B.A. Pass (2012)
Based on the short story “The Railway Aunty” by Mohan Sikka, B.A. Pass follows a young man who is forced to live with his unsupportive aunt after losing both his parents. Bogged down by financial pressures, he begins an affair with his aunt’s much older, married neighbor, who soon introduces him to a secret circle of wealthy women, drawing him into the murky world of male escorting. But his life takes a dark and irreversible turn when he’s caught in the act by one of the husbands, setting off a chain of events that spiral into violence, betrayal, and despair.
American Gigolo (1980)
Nearly a decade before Richard Gere played the role of a literal knight in shining armor rescuing an escort from her grim fate in Pretty Woman, he lived on the other side of that fantasy himself, as an escort in the 1980s neo-noir crime thriller, American Gigolo. Gere slips into the role of Julian Kay, a blatantly materialistic high-end escort who takes pride in the ability to satisfy women, and indulges in expensive tastes to match the life of his rich clientele.
On the job, Julian Kay sleeps with a rotating roster of rich women across ages, backgrounds, and desires. But off the clock, things get a little more complicated when he begins a torrid affair with the wife of a senator, a woman who quickly becomes obsessed with him. His polished world begins to unravel as he becomes the prime suspect in a murder trial, forcing him to confront not just the justice system but also his own emotional emptiness. American Gigolo is as much about erotic power dynamics, and the commodification of sex through the male perspective, as it is about loneliness and control.
Murder (2004)
Loosely based on the Hollywood film Unfaithful, Murder stars Mallika Sherawat and Emraan Hashmi in a deadly love triangle. Filled with over-the-top sex scenes, heavy-handed melodrama, and an iconic soundtrack that does much of the emotional heavy lifting, Murder is one of the most unapologetically campy and wildly entertaining erotic thrillers to come out of Bollywood in the early 2000s.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Stanley Kubrick’s final film, Eyes Wide Shut, starring Hollywood’s then real-life It couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, is sexy, dangerous, and deliciously confusing in all the right ways. Based on the 1926 novella Dream Story, the movie follows Dr Bill Hartford (Tom Cruise) as a grumpy, jealous husband who leaves his fancy New York apartment for some sexual awakening after hearing about his wife’s unfulfilled erotic fantasies. What begins as a petty ego trip, soon turns into something far darker, as he stumbles into a world of masked orgies, dead bodies, and secret sex parties run by the ultra rich and powerful. The movie plays out like a slow-burn fever-dream, part erotic, and part psychological thriller wrapped in layers of paranoia, lust, and danger.
Hate Story (2012)
Revenge, passion, and betrayal drive Hate Story, which follows Kavya, a journalist who goes undercover by taking a job at a powerful company to expose its owner, Siddharth Dhanrajgir’s, scams. When Siddharth catches wind of her plan, he plots to seduce her and use compromising footage to ruin her reputation. With her personal life in shambles, Kavya is fueled by a burning anger and thirst for revenge, sending her down a dark and obsessive path. The movie plays out like a cat-and-mouse chase for power, vengeance, and control. It was met with strong audience response and success, giving way to three more sequels that solidified its status as a landmark Bollywood erotic-thriller series.
Basic Instinct (1992)
If you’re new to the genre, Basic Instinct is a great place to start. Sharon Stone delivers a career-defining performance as Catherine Tramell, a successful crime novelist who may or may not be a seductive serial killer with an ice pick under her bed. When a washed-up rock musician turns up dead, murdered in the exact same way as described in Tramell’s latest novel, she becomes the prime suspect in an investigation led by detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas). Troubled by his own violent past and personal demons, Curran finds himself dangerously entangled in Catherine’s web of mind games, manipulation, and raw sexual tension.
Jism (2003)
Starring then real-life couple John Abraham and Bipasha Basu, Jism is one of the steamiest Bollywood movies of all time. The film follows Kabir (Abraham), a troubled alcoholic who falls for a sultry seductress, Sonia (Basu). But there’s one major obstacle in their way: Sonia’s much older and wealthier husband. Sonia convinces Kabir to help her murder her husband so they can be together, but things quickly spiral out of control. Kabir descends into a path of self-destruction after realizing that Sonia has set him up for her own gain.
365 Days (2020)
365 days is a Polish erotic thriller that topped global charts upon its Netflix release, despite all the controversies regarding its subject of glorifying kidnapping and rape. The story follows Laura, a simple sales director who finds her life turned overnight after her trip to Sicily ends with her getting kidnapped by a mafia member, who holds her captive for one year in an attempt to get her to fall in love with him. It’s obsessive, provocative, and indulgent, blurring the lines between fantasy and moral ambiguity.
Where To Watch The Best Erotic Thrillers Of All Time Online
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