ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joseph Perry writes for the film websites Gruesome Magazine, The Scariest Things, Horror Fuel and Diabolique Magazine; for the film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope and Drive-In Asylum; and for the pop culture websites When It Was Cool and Uphill Both Ways. He is also one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast and can occasionally be heard as a cohost on Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast.

The heady heyday of cinematic erotic thrillers is a few decades behind us, but writer/director Andy Edwards does his best to resurrect the genre for a new generation with Graphic Desires (AKA Graphic Designs; U.K., 2022). 

Edwards sets his feature in our modern, tech-obsessed world as bored work-from-home boyfriend Franklin (David Wayman) decides to try out a hook-up app for the first time when his girlfriend Candida (Sian Altman) goes to Germany on a business trip. He meets 18-year-old Atlanta (May Kelly), a transplant from Kansas to London, and the two hit it off well enough to provide one of the film’s many softcore sex scenes. Trying to keep things like this a secret rarely works out, especially in erotic thrillers, and he gets his app-designer friend Brandon (Ocean M Harris) involved when he thinks Atlanta has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. 

The proceedings can get a bit gonzo at times in Graphic Desires, and I did find myself scratching my head a few times at plot developments, but everything wraps up in an interesting manner. Edwards does a solid job at the helm, aided by impressive performances by the main cast members, and the technical aspects are all quite good. 

For those who enjoy cautionary fable substance with their sex scenes, Graphic Desires (AKA Graphic Designs) is currently available on-demand in the U.K. on Amazon, Apple, Sky, Virgin, etc. via High Fliers.