Have you ever tried to set the mood by putting on a certain Spotify playlist? Maybe you want to impress someone at a dinner or hang out in the bedroom. Anyway, you know what I'm talking about.

Well, the same thing goes for movies. If you're trying to set a mood, you want the music to correspond. And when you're making a steamy movie with intimate scenes, you need some sexy music to get the audience in the mood, too.

So today, we're going to go over the sexiest soundtracks in movies and talk about how they support the story on screen.

Let's dive in.

10. Cruel Intentions (1999)

  • Director: Roger Kumble
  • Writer: Roger Kumble
  • Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair
  • Composer/Music Supervisor: Edward Shearmur (Score) / Mary Ramos & Michelle Kuznetsky

I watched this movie on the USA Network so many times growing up that the music is burned into my brain. It has this moody, orchestral score with 90s trip-hop and Britpop (like The Verve and Placebo), which captures a specific kind of youthful energy that hypes up the desire.

9. Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

  • Director: Alfonso Cuarón
  • Writer: Carlos Cuarón, Alfonso Cuarón
  • Cast: Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Maribel Verdú
  • Music Supervisor: Liza Richardson (Curated Soundtrack)

While not a traditional score, this curated soundtrack features tracks like Brian Eno’s "By This River." And it uses indie-rock and Latin rhythms to capture the raw, spontaneous, and youthful heat of a summer road trip. It helps you find yourself in those quiet scenes and spices things up when there's dancing.

8. Carol (2015)

  • Director: Todd Haynes
  • Writer: Phyllis Nagy
  • Cast: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
  • Composer: Carter Burwell

This movie is so quietly sexy. Burwell uses a small woodwind ensemble to create a delicate, fluttering sound that makes you feel like you're getting away with something. Because you are.. It captures the nervous energy of a first touch and the sophistication of 1950s New York.

7. Basic Instinct (1992)

  • Director: Paul Verhoeven
  • Writer: Joe Eszterhas
  • Cast: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone
  • Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

This movie is all about tension. And Goldsmith’s score uses swirling, hypnotic woodwinds and strings that feel like a labyrinth you can't escape. It’s cold, calculated, and deeply seductive, mirroring the psychological chess match between the leads.

6. Body Heat (1981)

  • Director: Lawrence Kasdan
  • Writer: Lawrence Kasdan
  • Cast: William Hurt, Kathleen Turner
  • Composer: John Barry

Man, I loved an updated noir score. This one leans heavily on sultry solo saxophones and low woodwinds. It mimics the sticky atmosphere of the Florida coast and the characters' obsession. And it is seductive.

5. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

  • Director: Barry Jenkins
  • Writer: Barry Jenkins (based on the novel by James Baldwin)
  • Cast: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King
  • Composer: Nicholas Britell
I feel like this is an under-the-radar sexy movie. Britell uses deep, resonant brass and cellos to create a "warm" sound. It feels like a private conversation between lovers—soft, soulful, and incredibly grounded.

4. Under the Skin (2013)

  • Director: Jonathan Glazer
  • Writer: Walter Campbell, Jonathan Glazer
  • Cast: Scarlett Johansson
  • Composer: Mica Levi

Man, I love writing to this score. It just elevates every scene and has this sexy, science fiction swirl. This score is alien and predatory. Levi uses microtonal strings and a repetitive, heartbeat-like thrum to create a sound that is dangerously seductive and unsettling.

3. Out of Africa (1985)

  • Director: Sydney Pollack
  • Writer: Kurt Luedtke
  • Cast: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford
  • Composer: John Barry

This is "sweeping" intimacy that captures a whole different world and attitude. Barry’s lush, orchestral score captures the vastness of the landscape and the deep, sophisticated connection between the leads. It's animalistic.

2. Drive (2011)

  • Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
  • Writer: Hossein Amini
  • Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston
  • Composer: Cliff Martinez

This was leading the charge of the "synthwave" revival. The music is cool, neon-soaked, and tactile, relying on crystalline electronic textures rather than traditional romance. It was both poppy and also felt naughty.

1. In the Mood for Love (2000)

  • Director: Wong Kar-wai
  • Writer: Wong Kar-wai
  • Cast: Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung
  • Composer: Shigeru Umebayashi (Main Theme) & Michael Galasso

This is a movie about love that never quite gets to go. It uses a haunting, repetitive waltz to track the repressed desire and stolen moments between two neighbors who long for each other. It is the sonic definition of "the slow burn."

Summing It All Up 

If you're trying to make a sexy movie, don't focus on just what's on the screen; think about what you can add to the soundtrack to take things to the next level.

These are my picks for the sexiest soundtracks of all time. What would be on your list?

Let me know what you think in the comments.

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