6 Controversial Nude Scenes That Landed Movies NC-17 Ratings

Discussed in the piece that follows include extreme violence, sex work, incest, addiction, racism, and sexual assault.

Though many difficult and scary movies are made each year, relatively few are sufficiently offensive to receive the dreaded NC-17 rating. While a movie's market is somewhat limited by its rating, the rating itself isn't always a bad thing. This is because an NC-17 rating prohibits anybody under the age of 18 from seeing the movie, not even with adult supervision, in contrast to a R rating, which allows parents to watch with their children.

Shame (2011)

It is clear that sex addiction is a really complex subject that is naturally full of graphic content. That's the reason it's not shocking to see the drama "Shame" from 2011 on this list. The main character of the movie is Michael Fassbender's character, Brandon, who is always looking for casual sex. A montage of Brandon's hook-ups is one of the first scenes in "Shame" that explains why the film was given an NC-17 rating in the first place. The guy is shown leaving his bedroom after a new sexual experience in scene after scene. Every time this occurs, he passes the camera completely nude with nothing to hide his genitalia from view, despite the poor illumination in the scene.

Then there are the several additional sex scenes in the movie. "Shame" has an abundance of sexual encounters, such as a threesome with prostitutes, sex in a back alley, and same-sex with another guy at a gay club.The film's most unsettling aspect, though, may be Brandon's almost incestuous bond with his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan). This is due to the implication in "Shame" that the couple's complex sexual past stems from their shared experience of childhood molestation. Towards the end of the film, there is an explicit sequence of self-harm, making sure to check off every uncomfortable box one by one.

The Dreamers (2003)

"The Dreamers" delves further into the unsettling topic of incestuous material, although the previously stated "Shame" skirts the edge of it. As an exchange student in Paris, Michael Pitt's character Matthew makes friends with twin twins Isabelle (Eva Green) and Théo (Louis Garrel).

But when he accepts their invitation to stay, he finds that the twins actually do share everything. He plays sexual games with them, forcing them to do sex acts in front of each other as punishment after he discovers them sleeping together in the nude. A passionate love triangle develops in "The Dreamers" as the three of them have eyes for one other and pursue them obstinately, despite their own contradictions. The film has sequences that are overtly sexual, such as full frontal nudity from all three of its main characters and a montage of various sexual behaviors.

But like with other of the movies mentioned above, "The Dreamers"' rather nonsensical finale could be its most unsettling feature. After Théo and Isabelle's parents find the three together, Isabelle tries to use a gas line to kill herself and the other two people. Even after more than twenty years, the scene's passion and heartbreak endure despite its eventual failure.

Blonde (2022)

The film "Blonde" narrates the life of Marilyn Monroe (played by Ana de Armas), and it doesn't hold back when discussing her less happy moments. The film features a good deal of nudity, but the sequence when President John F. Kennedy (Caspar Phillipson) is shown sexually abusing Monroe is probably what made it go into NC-17 area. One of the scenes in the movie that isn't based in reality is the one that sparked more criticism.Glamour wrote in one of its reports, among other places, that "there are no claims or records of JFK sexually assaulting Marilyn."

One may say that this biopic fell short of expectations, but biopics are difficult needles to thread. The reaction to "Blonde" was sharply split; some denounced the movie as exploitative, while others criticized the scenes when the movie deviated from reality, such as the startling JFK scene. Although director Andrew Dominik acknowledged that his movie would touch a chord with certain audiences, he was truly surprised when it was given an NC-17 classification. Dominik said, "I was surprised," to Vulture. "I thought we'd colored inside the lines."

Lust, Caution (2007)

Ang Lee is the director of the "Lust, Caution" adaption of a short tale by Eileen Chang. It centers on Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei), a 1938 student at Hong Kong's Lingnan University. After she joins a theater club, her acting prowess unintentionally draws her into a conspiracy to kill Mr. Yee, a Japanese official (Tony Leung Chiu-wai); a portion of the movie is set in Shanghai during the time the city was ruled by the Imperial Japanese Army.Although Chia Chi makes an attempt to woo Mr. Yee, their connection turns out to be messier and more intricate than anybody could have imagined.

Fans of Lee's work had to be shocked that he was releasing an NC-17 film after viewing films like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hulk," but he stuck by his final cut. Because of several explicit but crucial sex sequences involving Chia Chi and Mr. Yee, "Lust, Caution" was given the appropriate classification. Not even the first one fits inside the R grade. "Their first sex scene is shockingly rough and moves quickly into bondage — mirroring the power relations of the occupation," according to New York magazine.

To save "Lust, Caution" from receiving an NC-17 classification, Lee had the option to edit it down, but he stood his ground and wouldn't remove the explicit sequences. In the end, no one was able to ignore how beautifully crafted "Lust, Caution" is because of the rating. The film received positive reviews from critics and viewers alike, and it even garnered some attention during award season, earning nominations for Best Foreign Language Film at the Critics Choice Awards and Best Film Not in the English Language at the BAFTAs.

Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)

"Blue is the Warmest Color" is perhaps one of the most sexily explicit movies you will ever see, regardless of how many you have watched. The film is replete with explicit sex sequences between Emma (Léa Seydoux) and Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos), to the extent that it has caused controversy. These scenes follow the intense lesbian love affair that bursts between the two. "Blue is the Warmest Color" revolves around a seven-minute sex scene that showcases a variety of sexual positions and acts between Adèle and Emma.

In fact, these specific sequences caused considerable controversy for the otherwise well-received movie. "The most discomfiting thing about 'Blue [Is The Warmest Color]' is that it ultimately feels like a menage a trois involving the actors and the camera, staged for the benefit of the director," noted J. Hoberman for ARTINFO. Tammy Olerman, founder of Bi*** Media, concurred, "Exarchopoulos and Seydoux are constantly undercut by [director Abdellatif] Kechiche's direction, which often seems more about his directorial desires than the motivations of the story's protagonists."

There are also other extremely sexual sequences, including one highly graphic scene in which Adèle is shown indulging herself while imagining making love to Emma, and another heterosexual encounter that shows full-frontal nudity. IFC overturned the decision in New York City, allowing minors in high school to attend the movie even though it was still rated NC-17.

Nymphomaniac (2013)

We get your thought process: "Nymphomaniac" is a movie, therefore of course it's rated NC-17. Still, that was never the original idea. Lars von Trier's long story about a self-confessed sex addict was originally intended to be two separate stories. One is the current version, and the other would have been a scaled-down version more appropriate for an R-rated film. After much effort, Von Trier was able to get the studio to support his original idea for the picture.

The film "Nymphomaniac" tells the tale of 50-year-old Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who is found injured in an alley by Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård). After Seligman gets Joe home to tend to her wounds, she begins to tell him about all of her crazy sex encounters. The film's rating was assured by an abundance of sex scenes and close-ups of every body part conceivable.

There are, in total, "six instances that felt like something you wouldn't see in a hard-R," Vulture added, noting that "for a little less than two minutes, all you see are numerous close-up photographs of flaccid penises." There is a scenario in Cunnilingus where everything is seen."The film's brutal content may have scared off some viewers, but the four hours it took to see it through was likely a turnoff for many more. Later, it was released in two parts with no MPAA classification.