Spanish romance “Your Fault” (Culpa Tuya), like its predecessor, “My Fault” (Culpa Mía) has become the latest worthy addition to the ever-so-engaging “guilty-pleasure” genre. Although lacking in terms of cinematic value, the movie makes up for that with its ‘forbidden love” storyline. It is, of course, extra scandalous as the lead male and female happen to be step-siblings. There is always a significant appeal for movies like “Your Fault,” and many of you have certainly looked for similar movies right after finishing the Prime Video hit. For those interested in such films, this is where you find the answer.
1. 365 Days (2020)
Surely many of you have seen this phenomenon that took the world by storm when it suddenly arrived back in 2020. The Polish erotic thriller had it all – an attractive male lead, a beautiful female lead, and a huge dose of steamy romance. Ticking all the boxes required to be checked for a proper guilty pleasure, ‘365 Days’ became THE pop-culture fascination for a while, that movie critics panned, and the audience loved.
The movie centers on this young Italian gangster, Massimo, who abducts a young Polish woman, Laura. The two get into a relationship of dominance and submission, forming the crux of the story. The movie is designed to make you feel guilty about watching it, but you cannot help it either. There are problematic aspects like glorifying the mafia or presenting sexual violence in stylized ways, but movies are never exactly moral lessons, and ‘365 Days’ never claimed to be one. One last thing: if this one satisfies your needs, then you should also try both of the sequels, “365 Days: This Day” and “The Next 365 Days“, both of which came out in 2022.
2. The Story of a Sin (1975)
Another Polish entry on the list, although this one is a lot different from ‘365 Days’. Often regarded as one of the most sexually graphic movies ever made in the history of cinema, “The Story Of A Sin” tells the story of a young Polish woman who gets into the world of prostitution as well as the criminal underworld. What makes the movie interesting is the girl’s origin being a very conservative and religious one.
The more than two-hour-long movie is the longest movie of director Walerian Borowczyk’s entire career. Despite being a movie with an arthouse structure, “The Story Of A Sin” has everything that you would be looking for in this one. There is a lot of toplessness and an infinite amount of erotic scenes, which you will find gratifying enough. In case you are looking for something of a similar kind of movie but much different in terms of taste after completing ‘My Fault,’ then this is the movie you should try.
3. Crash (1996)
Alright, this is a bit overreaching. But the thing is, David Cronenberg’s iconic ‘Crash’ (1996) does have elements that can match the vibe of the movie that brought you here, i.e., ‘Mia Culpa’. A combination of the strange kink where human beings fetishize fatal car accidents and there are forbidden romantic affairs between its deranged character, ‘Crash’ is a flag-bearer of courage and originality when it comes to the erotic thriller genre.
Featuring a very wild and unhinged James Spader, ‘Crash’ follows a movie producer who becomes involved with a group of people aroused by car crashes. At the same time, the producer tries to fix his failed marriage by folding in a lot of weird-as-hell sex scenes. Watching the whole thing can be very gratifying if you can vibe with the strange world that this movie creates. Despite being met with polarising reactions from critics at the time of its release, ‘Crash’ managed to achieve a cult status thanks to a very dedicated following of Cronenberg devotees. It also managed to win the prestigious Special Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival. ‘Crash’ should be your perfect transition to prestige from pulp after watching ‘My Fault’.
4. The Blue Lagoon (1980)
This one is a classic. For a lot of us, ‘The Blue Lagoon’ used to be our erotic film 101, at an age when it was particularly forbidden. The plot of this movie is quite simple. After a shipwreck tragedy, cousins Richard and Emmeline get stranded on an island. They are little children of age 9 and 7, respectively. With no mature adult around, the two of them soon hit puberty, and the inevitable romance happens – with a galore of passionate sex scenes. Emmeline even gets pregnant and gives birth to a son, much to the couple’s surprise.
‘The Blue Lagoon’, as you can clearly see, is a very obvious choice for this list. Even though it was totally panned by the critics for its plot, writing, the execution of the whole thing, and even lead actor Brook Shield’s performance, the movie went on to become quite a rage. Not only was it a massive commercial success, but it also managed to grab a Saturn Award nomination. It even earned an Academy Award nod for its cinematography. Of course, the reason people remember this movie and still talk about it has to be its controversial, incestuous content, which makes it very fun to watch and one of the greatest guilty-pleasure movies ever.
5. Womb (2010)
In Benedek Fliegauf’s science-fiction drama, ‘Womb’, a young woman loses her lover in a freak accident. But to cope with her grief, she impregnates herself with the clone of her dead lover. The boy grows up with the woman as his mother. But when he becomes an adult and reaches the same age where his “original” died, he ends up having sexual intercourse with the woman – who is technically his mother.
Trust me, this is not going to spoil the fun you are going to have while watching this one. Of course, it is an uncomfortable movie to watch for the faint-hearted, but over the last decade, the movie has quietly earned a following. Fans of it have used terms like “disturbing, haunting” and as a “missing episode of Black Mirror” to describe it. The fact that two of the hottest stars, Eva Green and Matt Smith, play the two main leads has only helped the movie further in getting more love. In case you cannot get enough of the incest in “Your Fault,” and are locked in on movies that are like it, you might consider taking this Freudian route, if you know what I mean.
6. The Boy Next Door (2015)
This should be your obvious choice, in case you have enjoyed ‘Your Fault’, and you also happen to be a fan of Jennifer Lopez. This movie became a subject of curiosity thanks to J-Lo’s presence and its very sensual subject matter upon its release.
Inspired by real-life experience of lawyer Barbara Curry, ‘The Boy Next Door’ is the story of a separated woman, Claire, who accidentally sleeps with a nineteen-year-old, Noah – who happens to be her son Kevin’s friend. While Claire regrets her action and does not want to repeat it, Noah does not take this well.
The entire movie is basically Noah spiraling and making Claire’s life hell because of his obsession with her. There is a lot of campy fun in “The Boy Next Door,” which might actually come as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for some of you – until the point where Noah turns wild. In fact, the movie is more fun when he is his sweet self. Of course, the charm of J-Lo is always undeniable.
7. Adore (2013)
The 2013 romantic drama, directed by then-director Anne Fontaine, made a lot of headlines thanks to its trashy plot, which came off as a kind of feminist-fantasy fulfillment. The movie received a lot of hatred, but a lot of people also praised it for being extremely bold in nature. What we can say is that ‘Adore’ is a very entertaining, shallow movie that is elevated by its two leads, who have given their all to this movie. In case you are wondering why in particular, ‘Adore’ has made it into this list, then here is the deal.
In this movie, two middle-aged women – Lil and Roz, get involved in passionate, physical relationships with each other’s young sons – Tom and Ian. They keep continuing their intense affairs until Tom falls for a young woman – Mary, who is of her age. The movie covers a long time period where both Ian and Tom marry and have kids, but their tryst with each other’s mothers never really ends. This is the very hard-to-believe, perfectly trashy follow-up you can do after ‘Your Fault’. Also, Naomi Watts and Robin Wright play Lil and Roz. Do you need to know any further?
8. 50 Shades of Grey (2015)
And finally, we have reached the end of this list. You have heard about this movie for sure. You have heard how trashy it is,and you have gone through tons of reviews of this thing over the internet. A lot of you must be familiar with the plot even. But the strange thing is, many people still have not actually watched Fifty Shades Of Grey.
The movie, regardless of its poor reception, continues to stand as a cultural phenomenon and has inspired movies such as ‘365 Days’ and ‘My Fault’. Starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan, both incredibly hot and perfectly capable actors – Fifty Shades is a story about a man and a woman and their BDSM indulgence and the consequence of it. There are two more sequels to it, which you should consider watching if the first movie works out for you. If you are looking for something like ‘Your Fault’, then there is no reason it should not.
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