Movies Like Fifty Shades of Grey If You’re Curious (or Just in the Mood)

Fifty Shades of Grey wasn’t exactly a critical darling, but it didn’t need to be. A trashy erotic novel turned global bestseller, followed by a wildly successful film trilogy, proved clearly that audiences are fascinated by stories about desire, power, control, and the messy emotional fallout that comes with them.

At its core, Fifty Shades is about an intense, uneven romance between a naïve literature student and a billionaire who pulls her into a carefully controlled world of BDSM. The films flirt with ideas of vulnerability, trust, and emotional intimacy, even when they stumble in execution.

As poorly done as it was, the curiosity didn’t end there because we have people still searching for movies like it in spirit. If you’re one of those people looking for movies like Fifty Shades of Grey, these titles explore obsession, power dynamics, sexual discovery, and the emotional risks that come with crossing certain lines.

Explore: 10 Mind-Bending Movies Like Interstellar You Need to Watch

Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution is an erotic espionage thriller set in Japanese-occupied China during World War II. The story follows a young student recruited to seduce and assassinate a powerful political collaborator, only for her mission to become dangerously complicated by the intense emotional and sexual bond she forms with her target.

Rated NC-17 (No one under 17) largely for the rawness of its sex scenes, the film uses intimacy as a weapon, a weakness, and a point of no return. Like Fifty Shades, it explores control and vulnerability, but with far higher emotional and political stakes.

Secretary tells the story of Lee Holloway, a young woman recovering from emotional trauma who takes a job as a legal secretary for a demanding lawyer. What begins as an unconventional workplace relationship evolves into a consensual BDSM dynamic that helps both characters confront their repressed needs.

Unlike Fifty Shades, this film treats submission not as humiliation, but as a form of self-discovery. It’s a strange, darkly funny, and surprisingly tender exploration, offering a more thoughtful perspective on desire and agency.

This sleek psychological thriller shifts erotic tension into the corporate world. Fair Play follows an engaged couple working at a ruthless hedge fund whose relationship fractures when the woman receives a major promotion over her fiancé.

There’s far less explicit sexuality here, but the film is soaked in power struggles, resentment, and intimacy curdling into something dangerous. If what intrigued you about Fifty Shades was the imbalance of control, Fair Play scratches that itch in a colder, sharper way.

Based on a true story, In the Realm of the Senses chronicles a sexual obsession that completely consumes two lovers in 1930s Japan, pushing them toward isolation, social rejection, and eventual violence.

This is not an easy watch. The film is explicit, confrontational, and deeply unsettling, but it’s also a serious psychological and political statement. Like Fifty Shades, it explores obsessive desire, but without fantasy or glamour.

A modern erotic thriller with pulpy instincts, The Voyeurs follows a young couple who become fixated on their neighbours across the street. What starts as curiosity quickly turns into obsession, manipulation, and danger.

It’s messy, provocative, and knowingly trashy. While not particularly subtle, it delivers the kind of voyeuristic thrills and twisted romance that fans of Fifty Shades may enjoy.

Steve McQueen’s Shame is a brutal character study of a man whose compulsive sexual behaviour prevents him from forming meaningful relationships. As his carefully controlled life begins to collapse, the film exposes the emotional emptiness beneath constant gratification.

This is a far darker and more serious exploration of sexual obsession than Fifty Shades, offering no fantasy or escape, only consequence.

Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher centres on a repressed, middle-aged music instructor whose carefully ordered life unravels when a younger man pursues her romantically.

The film is cold, disturbing, and psychologically dense. Desire here is not liberating but destabilising, making it one of the most challenging films on this list.

This coming-of-age romance traces a young woman’s intense relationship with another woman, capturing the emotional highs and brutal lows of first love.

While controversial for its explicit scenes and gaze, the film is ultimately about emotional intimacy, heartbreak, and growing up. It’s less about power than vulnerability, but its rawness places it firmly in the same conversation.

Pleasure or Pain follows a young woman drawn into a wealthy man’s world of luxury, control, and sexual experimentation. As the relationship deepens, the line between desire and manipulation begins to blur.

It’s one of the closest spiritual cousins to Fifty Shades, leaning heavily into erotic drama, wealth-fueled fantasy, and the psychological cost of surrendering control.

If Fifty Shades of Grey sparked your curiosity, these films show just how many different directions stories about desire, power, and intimacy can take, ranging from glossy fantasy to deeply uncomfortable realism.

Read Next: Loved 365 Days? These Steamy Movies Will Have You Hooked