Sexy, reinvigorated

Audio erotica (covered by VML Intelligence here) is also on the up. Subscription-based audio erotica app Quinn has grown its revenue by 440% in the past two years. Spotify is capitalizing on interest by launching a "Spicy audiobooks" hub hosting titles rated on a “spice meter” from one chili (“flirty and full of feels”) through to five (“explosive”).

Behavioral psychologist Jo Hemmings tells VML Intelligence that the return to sex and romance is a form of escapism. “These fantasies often cater to idealized or exaggerated forms of intimacy,” she says, “such as perfectly choreographed encounters or relationships filled with chemistry, which real-world experiences rarely live up to. It may point to unmet emotional needs, the impacts of a rapidly changing world, and a recalibration of how intimacy is expressed and experienced.”

Another interpretation is that people want to see their sexuality represented more broadly, or through a different lens to the traditional male gaze. Sean Baker, director of Oscar’s Best Picture hopeful Anora, told BK Mag that filmmakers are “in a place now where we’re approaching sexuality, hopefully, in a more responsible and aware way, and it’s going to be interesting to see the way it plays out.” Indeed, many of the new wave of movies and TV that explore sexuality cover less well-trodden territory. Halijna Reijn’s Babygirl is about a midlife female CEO who has an affair with an intern, and Luca Guadagnino’s Queer tells the story of an American expat’s infatuation with a younger man.