The best movies take viewers on an emotional rollercoaster, incorporating ups and downs, heartbreak and scandals and moments of agony and ecstasy. A truly great sex scene, meanwhile, can radiate chemistry and accelerate a juicy storyline, but terrible sex scenes can become iconic for all the wrong reasons.


What constitutes a good or bad sex scene is subjective, but there are some key ingredients needed to create red-hot on-screen chemistry.


“As a performer and producer, the Hollywood scenes that make me cringe have become great examples of what not to do when I’m shooting my own content,” says MILF icon Rachel Steele. “The best scenes make the viewer feel like they’re watching something real, even if it’s totally stylized. Authentic eye contact, natural rhythm and mutual pleasure go a long way. Bad scenes usually ignore that — they’re either overproduced or completely disconnected from how people actually move and respond to one another.”


Tiffany Chan, a certified sexologist and OnlyFans creator, agrees that authenticity is key to a steamy sex scene. “The face says it all,” she explains. “If actors and actresses took a moment to film themselves during a few real orgasms, it would make a world of difference to their on-screen portrayals. It’s that feeling of being lost, embodied, hot, hungry, needy, aching for release. The flush of the skin, the small spasms when their partner moves just right against those sensitive nerves. That’s the look I want to see in a sex scene!”


For her part, award-winning porn performer Aubrey Kate can’t stand sex scenes that “leave too much to the imagination,” as well as the casting of “characters who don’t have that abundant sexual chemistry.” Hollywood affairs sparked by on-screen pair-ups aren’t uncommon, but Kate believes the chemistry should be so hot that you can almost believe the stars are fucking IRL.


Adding actual porn performers into the mix could make a world of difference, too. “Most actors in mainstream movies lack the experience in performing sex acts on camera,” says OnlyFans star Blake Lovely, the self-described “doll next door.” In her eyes, this lack of experience leads to rushed scenes, added music and tight shots to hide the lack of sexual tension. “As the stigma of adult actors crossing into mainstream fades, my hope is that we’ll get to see much more believable, authentic sex scenes in Hollywood,” she continues. “It may take some time, but hopefully one day we’ll get there.”


In the meantime, on-screen sex can be incredibly hit-or-miss, so we assembled an all-star roundtable with Ana Andrews, Jade Greene and Penny Barber in addition to Steele, Chan, Kate and Lovely to talk through the misses. The result is a pretty in-depth list of the Hollywood sex scenes guaranteed to make porn performers’ eyes roll back into their heads.


Fifty Shades of Grey: The Whole Thing



Blake Lovely: Not only did the on-screen adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey feature horrific acting with a generally boring storyline, but the actors had zero sexual tension between them. The sex scenes felt flat and awkward, almost like they had to yell “CUT!” multiple times and piece the scene together as best they could afterward.


Ana Andrews: The sex scenes in this movie were so off-the-mark that they changed sex culture for the worse in the few years that followed. BDSM means sexual or non-sexual play that requires super important conversations before, after and even during sex. But Fifty Shades of Grey romanticized boundary-breaking and this super weird power dynamic. As a result, any place that did safe, sane kink became flooded with “tourists” who carried this skewed view of the roles of doms and subs.


I said it then, and I’ll say it again: The only reason this was seen as romantic was because Mr. Grey was rich and handsome. If he’d been average-looking with an average income and she had been looking for a job at a local Walmart, this would have been a horror movie.


Showgirls: The Pool Scene



Rachel Steele: It’s iconic for all the wrong reasons. Elizabeth Berkley thrashing like she’s in a seizure while Kyle MacLachlan looks like he's drowning? Zero sensuality. It’s all chaos and no chemistry. It’s a perfect example of what happens when a sex scene tries to be shocking instead of authentic.


Tiffany Chan: This was the most unrealistic sex scene I’ve ever seen. I’ll be the first to admit that getting tossed around during sex can be epic, but this looked like neither of them knew what they were doing and just thought, “The more thrashing, the better.” On top of all that, pool water makes for terrible lube.


Brokeback Mountain: The Tent Scene



Aubrey Kate: As much as I love this movie, the first bad sex scene that comes to mind is Brokeback Mountain. Both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal were excellent actors with their lines, and they fit their roles as closeted as gay cowboys. But the sex scenes? The first sex scene in the tent basically just shows them making out, and no actual sexual acts afterwards. The movie failed to make good sex scenes by leaving too much to the imagination rather than showing the actual hot acts — and many movies can do that without full-blown nudity.


The Bronze: The Bedroom Olympics Scene



Jade Greene: This is a perfect demonstration of how not to shoot sex scenes. The scene takes place between the protagonist, Hope Greggory, a fallen-from-grace Olympian who now coaches Team USA, and the antagonist, Lance Tucker, another retired Olympian. The scene is so rushed, and it’s set in a dimly-lit room — and although that sets the mood for a couple IRL, it’s terrible from a viewer’s perspective. They do some impressive but totally pointless maneuvers, including a pummel horse move and some 69 bench-pressing. Some are sexual, but most are for show — it’s a hilarious scene, but not one suited for porn at all.


Monster’s Ball: The ‘Can I Touch You?’ Scene



Rachel Steele: This one tries to be gritty and emotional, but it ends up feeling performative and uncomfortable. The pacing is off, the build-up nonexistent. There’s no intimacy, just raw, unfiltered trauma. That can work, but here it just feels exploitative.


What Women Want: The Mel Gibson Talking to His Penis Scene



Tiffany Chan: I know this is meant to be a comedy, but it’s worth the mention in this list because it was just so bad. Mel Gibson talking to his penis to help “get his guy in the game” followed by the (still-clothed) girl screaming, “Amazing! Amazing!” like a cheerleader? Nope. Super cringe.


The Wolf of Wall Street: The Sexy Nursery Scene



Penny Barber: I know this will be an unpopular opinion because I see it referenced all the time on social media in a positive light, but it’s the scene where Naomi (Margot Robbie) is on the floor of her daughter’s nursery sort of teasing Jordan (Leonardo DiCaprio) about how she isn’t wearing panties, and she’s going to be sexually frustrating as a sort of sexy punishment. It’s a stupid, implausible situation. First, he’s just going to go out and get a hooker within the hour. Second, she knows that isn’t a punishment; it’s a reward, whether he gets pussy or not. I’d crawl on my belly through broken glass for Margot Robbie to be wandering around my house with no panties on under a short skirt. Third, they’re in their kid’s nursery. Seriously? Is that really such a male fantasy? I knew men were weird, but come on — and I’m down with the mommy thing. I’m by no means a prude, but your daughter’s nursery seems an odd choice of locale for dirty talk and sexual teasing.


The Room: The Duplicative Sex Scene



Rachel Steele: The same sex scene reused twice, with a belly-button-focused approach to anatomy that defies all logic. It’s hilariously bad — and unintentionally educational in terms of what not to do when blocking a scene.


The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2: The Wedding Consummation Scene



Tiffany Chan: This is a “hear me out” choice, but it’s the scene where Bella and Edward are finally married. The audience has waited four films for this moment, and there’s no heat, no connection, no discussion and no passion. The director clearly did his best to make it believable through cut scenes, sparkles and the headboard breaking, but it fell so short for me. I still remember being in the theater with my best friend and literally standing up, saying, “What the fuck was that?!”