The 21 Best NC-17 Movies to Stream Tonight

"Passages" is the newest movie to earn an NC-17 rating, but the rating hasn't come without controversy. In fact, one media outlet reported that the movie may have received an NC-17 rating because of the "queer-averse" Motion Picture Association, while the director of "Passages" called MPA's decision "a form of cultural censorship," according to The Los Angeles Times. Watch this love triangle unfold, and decide for yourself what you think.

Watch "Passages" on Amazon Prime.

The dark plot of Stanley Kubrick's erotic thriller follows a wealthy doctor who discovers that his wife had an affair. He later finds himself in the midst of a masked orgy organized by a secret society — and believe us, anything goes here. While an unrated version of the movie is now available, the particularly graphic orgy scenes were originally digitally altered by Warner Bros. so that the film would be rated R rather than NC-17.

Watch "Eyes Wide Shut" on YouTube.

This coming-of-age movie tells the story of a young woman exploring and embracing her sexuality as she falls in love with an older woman. The film caused controversy due to explicit sex scenes between the two women and had a limited release with an NC-17 rating in the US.

Watch "Blue Is the Warmest Color" on Roku or Amazon Prime.

For a movie completely about sex, "Shame" isn't exactly sexy. The dark drama follows the life of a sex addict as he tries to get a handle on his problems.

Watch "Shame" on Amazon Prime or Apple TV.

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams stunned in the critically acclaimed drama "Blue Valentine" about the dissolution of a couple's marriage. The film originally received an NC-17 rating because of the scene where Gosling's character performs oral sex on Williams's character, but Gosling called out the MPAA for sexism and misogyny, saying that if the roles were switched, and the female were performing oral sex on the male, the film would have received an R rating. The rating was appealed and changed to R.

Watch "Blue Valentine" on Amazon Prime.

"Basic Instinct" has one of the most famous scenes in film history. You know, the one where a panty-less Sharon Stone slowly uncrosses her legs while wearing a dress. The neo-noir murder mystery is full of intrigue, drama, and yes, a lot of sex. It was initially given an NC-17 rating but, after a few selective edits, was given an R rating. The uncut format is still available.

Watch "Basic Instinct" on YouTube or Paramount+.

Not too much can be said for "Showgirls" — it was a box office failure and a flop critically — but there is a lot of sex and nudity. The cult classic has a comically over-the-top plot but is still one of the most notorious NC-17 films out there.

Watch "Showgirls" on Pluto TV or Tubi.

An ex-patriate in pre-World World II Paris who writes erotic stories about her sexual fantasies meets another ex-pat and finds someone to explore her fantasies with. "Delta of Venus" was rated NC-17 (though an R-rated version is also available) because of explicit sex scenes.

Watch "Delta of Venus" (R-rated version) on Amazon Prime.

"Lust, Caution" is an erotic thriller that takes places in 1940s Shanghai, which was occupied by Japan at the time. Directed by "Brokeback Mountain" director Ang Lee, the action-packed espionage drama follows a woman assigned to lure a special agent into a trap in order to murder him. The movie is rated NC-17 for graphic sex and full-frontal nudity, among other things.

Watch "Lust, Caution" (R-rated version) on Apple TV.

Two men who grew up together at a religious Catholic school reunite as adults in "Bad Education," a Spanish drama starring Gael García Bernal. Due to themes of sexual abuse within the Catholic church, explicit sex, and drug use, the film was given a rating of NC-17 by the MPAA.

Watch "Bad Education" on Amazon Prime.

This erotic thriller, released in 2000, follows a young lawyer who hopes to spice up his marriage by inviting another woman over for a threesome. However, breaking it off with the other woman proves more difficult than anticipated. Originally rated NC-17, some sexually explicit scenes were cut from "Trois" in order to achieve its R rating. An uncut version was reportedly released but is not readily available online.

Watch "Trois" (R-rated version) on Amazon Prime.

Based on the Jean Rhys novel of the same name, "Wide Sargasso Sea" is a good choice for all the sexy-literature lovers out there. The film, like the book, is set in the 1840s, with a woman marrying a man to avoid losing her property. What first appears to be a happy marriage begins to disintegrate under the weight of secrets and mutual distrust. There are two versions of this film, and the 1993 adaptation, starring Karina Lombard, is rated NC-17 (although only the R-rated version is available online).

Watch "Wide Sargasso Sea" (R-rated cut) on Amazon Prime.

Antonio Banderas stars in this 1987 comedy-thriller about a gay filmmaker, his trans actress sister, and a dangerously obsessive fan. "Law of Desire," originally released in Spain as "La Ley del Deseo," was rated NC-17 for "a scene of explicit sexual content."

Watch "Law of Desire" on Amazon Prime.

An adaptation of "The Book of One Thousand and One Night," "Arabian Nights" is an Italian film about a man who falls in love with his slave and his very erotic adventures as he searches for her after she is abducted.

Watch "Arabian Nights" on YouTube with MGM+.

"Tropic of Cancer" holds an NC-17 rating for its (often funny) portrayal of various sexual fantasies and stories.

Watch "Tropic of Cancer" on Amazon Prime.

In "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!," a young psychiatric patient kidnaps an actress in order to make her fall in love with him, leading to some pretty problematic Stockholm syndrome and an unexpected twist. The film was originally classified as porn and rated X, but Miramax filed a lawsuit against the MPAA. Though it lost, eventually the film's rating was lowered to NC-17.

Watch "Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!" on Max or Amazon Prime.

When three impressionable young women move to Los Angeles and quickly fall prey to all the vices it has to offer them, things spiral out of control. "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" is a film about their decline into excessive drug use and various affairs. The film originally earned an X rating for full-frontal nudity, graphic sex, and lesbian relations. It has since been re-rated NC-17.

Watch "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" on Apple TV.

This Spanish erotic drama has a layered plot of intertwining stories dealing with love, tragedy, sex, and death. The sexy (and dark) film can be viewed as R or NC-17.

Watch "Sex and Lucia" on Tubi or Amazon Prime.

"Elles" takes place during just one day — a day in which a French journalist delves into the world of female student prostitution. What she finds is something completely unexpected, which leads her to reevaluate her own life and sexuality. The movie is rated NC-17 for explicit sexual content.

Watch "Elles" on Xumo Play.

Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the brains behind "Southpark"), "Orgazmo" is an over-the-top sex comedy about a superhero pornographic movie. Pretty self-explanatory how/why this one is NC-17.

Watch "Orgazmo" on YouTube or Amazon Prime.

"The Doom Generation" is all doom, gloom, thrill, and, of course, sex. The movie involves a sexual relationship between three people who go on a crime spiral that inevitably leads to their downfall.

Watch "The Doom Generation" on Vudu.

Hilary White is the former PS living editor.

Taylor Andrews (she/her) is the balance editor at PS, specializing in topics relating to sex, relationships, dating, sexual health, mental health, travel, and more. With seven years of editorial experience, Taylor has a strong background in content creation and storytelling. Prior to joining PS in 2021, she worked at Cosmopolitan.