A Culture War in the Bedroom
The film 'I Want Your Sex' explores generational tensions between Gen Z and Millennials regarding intimacy and social norms. It portrays Gen Z as inhibited and cautious, contrasting them with the 'sex-positive' and assertive Millennial generation.
Why it matters
It reflects ongoing cultural debates about generational differences in social behavior and the impact of modern stressors on youth.
A new film pokes fun at Gen Z’s inhibitions—erotic and otherwise.
llustration by The Atlantic. Source: Magnolia Pictures. August 8, 2026, 8 AM ET Share Save In the new film I Want Your Sex , characters are action figures in a staging of generational war.
On one side is Gen Z, its members portrayed as anxious little prudes. Twenty-three-year-old Elliot is bumbling and directionless. His high-achieving girlfriend is far more interested in studying than she is in him. (When he tries to initiate intimacy, she accuses him of “constantly draining my qi energy.”) His best friend, Apple, is angsty about her lack of interesting life experience—yet she almost always seems to be home, donning pimple cream and loungewear. None of them is having much sex.
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