Tag Archives: Olivia Wilde

Film reviews

I Want Your Sex Review

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Olivia Wilde is becoming rapidly more brilliant and is destined to always be daring. After her directing and starring The Invite, she continues to rock the world with her mind-blowing performances. In I Want Your Sex, she is an open book with no bars. I Want Your Sex is wicked and honest. It is a comedic look at human emotions that is funny and serious, while also highlighting the mental pressure of making choices. Cooper Hoffman is a revelation. He steals the film. When there are elements of desire, I Want Your Sex stops at nothing to create spellbinding fantasies.

The film is written and directed by Gregg Araki and focuses on Elliot (Hoffman), an employee working in a studio under the supervision of Erika (Wilde). Elliot works as a studio assistant for Erika’s studio. He has a strange job of assisting with chewing gum. However, as he works with Erika, their conversations start to become more sexualized. As Elliot is in a not-so-exciting relationship, he begins to feel that being with Erika brings him more pleasure in his life.

The film becomes increasingly erotic. Audiences can feel the loneliness in Hoffman’s performance. Since he has a standard nine-to-five job with little excitement, being with Erika opens doors for him. Especially in moments when she labels him as a submissive. However, he finds himself confused as well. Is Erika trustworthy? Is Erika using him? Do their choices benefit either of them? I Want Your Sex spirals with questions that boggle the imagination.

With the dynamic between Wilde and Hoffman, it is like a wild duo trying to figure out their own desires. Wilde is high-class and Hoffman is the middle- to  lower-class.  Wilde is the wealthy one with the studio, and Hoffman is the assistant. Wilde’s character has tons of money to spend on fancy art and strange hobbies. Hoffman’s character works at his job just to get by. Outside of his job, however,  he is not that happy. He begins to feel most human when he is with Wilde. They are two human beings looking to fulfill their fantasies in this classy and well-written dark comedy.

The quirkiness of the lead characters’ desires and loneliness is what makes the film so fulfilling. Hoffman’s performance and ability to display his lonesome mode is defiant. Wilde’s performance is also compelling especially when she uses trial and error in making Hoffman her submissive.  The story leads viewers down dark avenues that are bizarre and utterly surprising. This is a one-of-a-kind comedy that had me sold. Three-and-a-half out of four stars for I Want Your Sex.

 

 

 

 

Capsule Reviews, Chicago Critics Film Festival 2026, Film reviews

The Invite Review-Chicago Critics Film Festival 2026-Movies with Tarek

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The opening night of The Chicago Critics Film Festival soared with laughter. Olivia Wilde’s The Invite received acclaim for its comedic impact and resonated strongly with audiences. Obscure, prolific, and creatively enticing. Wilde’s vision has clever insanity written all over The Invite. An all-star cast in a dynamic where a dinner evening goes awry. With multiple marital issues and messy disagreements, the story is written in a way that gets fun right. The Invite is so inviting due to frequent quirks which are not overly serious. A genius approach from Wilde. 

The film begins with a couple, Angela (Olivia Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogen). They feel compelled to have their neighbors over for dinner. However, their dysfunction is written all over the initial scenes of the film. Annoyances abound with arguments related to issues from chores to wine. There is much more on the table than just dinner. The couple who joins them are Pina (Penelope Cruz) and Hawke (Edward Norton). They can sense that Angela and Joe are having issues. Therefore, they try to involve themselves in lifestyle conversations. During the course of events as the evening goes awry, desire and pleasure come into play as well.

Pina and Hawke try to compare themselves to Angela and Joeprimarily by helping them to explore what makes them angry. To be honest, their issues are common first-world problems. Wilde’s direction effectively creates volcanic eruptions based on the impulsive characteristics of each character. This is what makes The Invite so great. Tensions are created yet there is plenty of joy and quirk to be had while navigating the variousegos. The couples may be out of their league, but the actingresults in a satirical grandeur of entertainment that is unforgettable. Couples collide and happiness is a lie. The Invite shines with glory. Four out of four stars for The Invite.

Film reviews

Don’t Worry Darling Review

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There are films where sci-fi is captivating and there ones where artificial intelligence is out of this world. In Don’t Worry Darling, both those elements are mediocre. Don’t Worry Darling lacks in both entertainment and characterization. The biggest appeal is the film’s cast. The film may have a stellar lineup of celebrities, but that aspect does not make the film any better. Even the writing is unstructured. That leads to the pacing being off also. Don’t Worry Darling look cool (to me) at first, however it is a disaster in all forms.

The film falls in genre categories of Drama, Mystery, and Thriller. Realistically it is sci-fi. The sci-fi aspects are vibrant in the beginning. When the conflicts arise, the film is poor and uninviting. From my experience with Don’t Worry Darling, it is because of its lacking foundation in the setup of the film. There is not much detail to why or how the setting is in the film. There is also not much evidence or background on the conflicting issues or resentments with all the cast in the film. The one inviting aspect was the actress, Olivia Wilde. She is not only one of the leads of the film, but also the director.

In Don’t Worry Darling, the film takes place in California. The setting is an experimental community that is utopian. It is setup where the men go to work, and the women stay home. The characters are Alice Chambers (played by Florence Pugh), Jack Chambers (played by Harry Styles), Bunny (played by Olivia Wilde), and Frank (played by Chris Pine). The film is setup where the men work for a prestige company, while the women stay home. As the more secrets tend to cause questioning, the ladies begin to rebel against their husbands wishes. That is where Don’t Worry Darling begins to lack. There is no foundation setup of the dynamics of the families. To further elaborate, it is also just poorly written and one where I felt I could not take the performances seriously. There may be a bigger secret to the film’s center of its problems. The film’s directing though is absurd.

As the tensions starts to add fuel to the fire in the film, that is where I felt there was more not making sense. The expectations of husbands and their wives is wacky. On top of that, there is occurrences that do not add value to the film’s suspense theme. Most of the unexplained dramatics are out of tune. There is little to no explanation of their happenings. Don’t Worry Darling do not know how to captivate its audience. It also does not know how to create invigorating character dynamics. All the moments of its characterization factors are ridiculous.

Don’t Worry Darling was promising for me at the start. I knew of the mixed clashing conflicts with the actors and filmmakers, that the film may not be that great. I still had faith in it though. It did not live up to my expectations though. It did though live up to the technical aspects with the brisk and amazing scenery of California. Regardless though, the film had disappointment after disappointment. That is rather unfortunate, because the all-star cast had me excited to have the experience to see Don’t Worry Darling. Sadly though, it is one where many should expect to set their expectations low.

Trying to remain positive here, but it is not coming easy. Don’t Worry Darling was probably one of the most mediocre experiences for me this year. I feel that it could have been so much better. It is obvious though, that the film was rushed and with all the previous conflicts, that that probably was factor to why the film turned out how it was. Two stars for Don’t Worry Darling.