Tell Me What You Want (2025) Movie Review: Steamy Spanish erotica is a corny, problematic look at a power tussle

The 50 Shades Series has had unofficial inspirations all over the world. Despite being extremely problematic, not just from an ethical point of view but also just how mediocre and incomplete these pieces of chick-lit are, connoisseurs of erotica around the world do not care. If you check into these movies expecting a well-rounded character sketch of how sex plays into the eventual tussle for power, you are doing it wrong. 

The target audience for books and movies like “Tell Me What You Want (Pídeme lo que quieras)” is actually more interested in the idea of sex being sexy on screen than the deed itself. Kinky games and unceremonious turns aside, Lucía Alemany’s adaptation of the best-selling book series by Megan Maxwell understands that urge quite well. So, what she does with the movie is exactly that. 

From a plot point of view, a bunch of nothing happens in the entirety of this 1 hour and 54 minute film. Gabriela Andrada stars as Judith Flores, a bike-riding, confident, and hardworking young woman who works at Muller Pharmaceuticals, a large multinational company, where she currently serves as a data analyst. Apart from her cat and her lonely apartment, there’s not much of a social life she has beyond her work, where she wishes for a promotion into the financial leg of the company. 

Living far away from her family and taking all the ups and downs of the corporate world in Madrid has made her a little geeky and removed her from the real world. However, witnessing a scintillating affair that includes her superior and later meeting the company’s new boss, Eric Zimmerman (Mario Ermito), in an elevator, oozing with sexual tension, makes things sway for her. 

Without realizing anything, she gets carried away by Eric’s sexual advances, much of which are rooted in seduction that isn’t realized to its ultimate climax. So, what we get here is a set of sequences between Eric and Judith where they are basically just teasing each other with their bodies, the fluids they carry, and the power that the mysterious boss’s abandoning ways hold. Honestly, after the first few interactions where Eric brings Judith closer to his world of kinks, the film is just a rally of her being left to fend for herself, and him returning, claiming that he loves her and will never do this again. 

The plot just does a constant back and forth between that, and if that satiates your horny meter, “Tell Me What You Want” will be well worth the admission. The Warner Bros Pictures-backed film has a lavish production design. From designer clothes, gorgeous shooting locations, to hot people being hot, this erotica has it all. However, it is also corny, problematic, and derivative with its themes of power tussle falling flat on its face. Not to forget how it wants to be this morally complacent tale that understands consent, but then goes ahead and blatantly normalizes rape in the name of sexual fantasy. 

Gabriela Andrada, who you may recognize from the famous “Your Fault” movie series, is a vision to look at. However, the same can’t be said about the way she plays Judith. As a character, you do not pay much emotional weight to her vulnerabilities, despite Director Alemany’s best efforts to make her feel humane in front of the emotionally distraught, robotic character that Eric is. Mario Ermito plays Eric like a second-fiddle, and his audio dubbing – which makes his voice sound like it’s base-ing itself out of his throat before you hear it – is just extremely distracting. 

That said, people who harbour fantasies that often make the workplace the playground might be amused by some of “Tell Me What You Want’s” steamy sequences – especially the ones that come in the first act. I wish the film streamlined the conflict in the third act by giving it more room to breathe. In its current form, it just feels like an incomplete film that cannot be seen without a follow-up. So for audiences who wish to climax along will definitely be disappointed. 

Read More: 20 Great Psychosexual Movies That Are Worth Your Time

Tell Me What You Want (2025) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd
Tell Me What You Want (2025) Movie Cast: Gabriela Andrada, Mario Ermito, Celia Freijeiro, David Solans, Alba Ribas, Joel Bosqued, Alicia Bercan, Anna Karinvinge

Where to watch Tell Me What You Want