The Steamiest Netflix Original Shows

There’s nothing wrong with wanting a little passion in your TV viewing experience. Nothing wrong with watching beautiful bodies collide — lips meet, hands touch, clothes slip to the ground. Netflix isn’t one to shy away from steamy content. Sexual-forward shows have become a large part of the streaming platform’s original offerings. And, though some provide more than others in the world of plot and character development, this list will highlight Netflix shows destined to leave you hot and bothered. 

‘Sex/Life’ | 2021 — 2023

A woman throws her picture-perfect life away in the suburbs — the house, the doting husband, and the kids — to engage in a steamy affair with a man who provides the heat she’s been missing (oh, and he also boasts quite a large member). She was once a wild child, and this man is a piece of her past clutching onto her present. The sex scenes are frequent and intense. The show leaves little to the imagination, showing all the “bases” in as much detail as possible without becoming utterly pornographic. The people are beautiful. The fashion is stunning. The lux apartments are enviable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCS-Y6Sp7CI

It’s a hot watch, despite the fact that melodramatic writing surfaces when the provocative parts give way to a semblance of storytelling. You are not watching this for the narrative. You are watching for the chemistry between Sarah Shadi and Adam Demos, who are in a real-life relationship outside the series. 

‘Sense8’ | 2015 — 2018

From the brilliant minds behind The Matrix, Lana and Lilly Wachowski deliver a globe-spanning, sci-fi epic in this Netflix original series. Unlike a handful of other entries on this list, Sense8 offers up equal parts story and sex. The premise: eight strangers around the world find themselves connected by a violent vision, discovering that they share the ability to connect with each other’s thoughts and actions. Meaning, If one of the group members knows how to fight, all the others can tap into her for assistance when in danger. If one of them can hack into the most secure computer, so can the rest of them. Yet, this power is too great, too beyond the norm, and there is an organization out to destroy them.

Imagine sex scenes where everyone involved can feel each other’s desires. Everyone involved can feel each other’s arousal, each other’s attraction, and each other’s chemical responses. It’s a sexual rendevous like no other. Boys with boys, Girls with girls. Girls with boys. It’s an extremely inclusive show, representing many members of the LGBTQ+ community in all their beautiful glory. And, you will enjoy the thrilling, high-octane, action-packed mystery as much as the steamy interludes.

‘Fatal Seduction’ | 2023 

Fatal Seduction is yet another Netflix show that combines wealth with a forbidden sexual affair. The main character gets involved with one of her students, who’s got a young, rock-hard body, and a mind that she’s drawn to. Yet, he’s not who he seems to be. Secrets slowly surface revealing his connection to past events in her husband’s life (events her spouse has kept secret). 

Though the narrative may sound promising, it’s utterly banal. It is no more than a mere prolonged distraction from the much-better sex scenes. Fatal Seduction suffers from clunky dialogue and inconsistent pacing, but its voyeuristic intentions keep us hooked. We watch as these characters have sex in Olympic-sized pools, in mansions, atop classic hot rods at an auto shop. It’s every sex dream, every unattainable fantasy come to life. 

‘Bridgerton’ | 2020 —

Would this even be a post about the steamiest Netflix shows without mentioning Bridgerton? Who could forget the Duke of Hastings revealing that he burns for Daphne as he stares with wonder and adoration at the object of his affection — as viewers at home put themselves in her place, imagining this suave and seductive man talking directly through our screens.

Their love is passionate. It starts as a simmer and becomes a full-on boil. It’s a tale as old as time — opposites (who do not want the same things in life) attract. They can’t live with each other, but they can’t resist the temptation. Fights lead to intimacy…in every room of every residence. The drawing room. The garden. The ballroom. The bedroom. Need we continue? Though Bridgerton is filled to the brim with steamy moments, it offers up intriguing soapy drama and a depth of character that supersedes some of the substance-lacking entries on this list. 

‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’ | 2023

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is, first and foremost, a sincere love story — one that understands that love does not “happen to someone,” but rather is a choice we make. It’s a decision we embrace each day to care for and support one another. The romance between Queen Charlotte and King George is equal parts steam and sensitivity, making this spin-off an improvement upon its predecessor. The love is less frothy and free-spirited; more determined and profound.

Though Bridgerton may have been a tough act to follow, Queen Charlotte rose to the occasion with grace and gravitas. It’s deeper than Bridgerton. It traverses rougher terrain, covering mental illness, spousal secrets, and more with finesse. Though several sex scenes will leave you watering at the mouth, the story will pull at your heartstrings, making the steamy scenes all the more impactful. 

‘Obsession’ | 2023

The erotic thriller follows a respected London surgeon who engages in a steamy affair with his son’s fiance, as both take actions that could threaten their lives — and the world they have come to know — forever. Brief moments in the series carry the bated-breath intensity of genre triumphs like Fatal Attraction or Basic Instinct, but the series succumbs to lazy contrivances and genre tropes that make it no more than steamy escapism. 

A remake of the 1992 film Damage, starring Juliette Binoche and Jeremy Irons, it aims for a more contemporary spin yet fails to deliver substance with shock. There’s a handful of grunt-heavy sex scenes, and the main characters are quite the lookers. It’s definitely steamy and addictive, as you can’t help but wonder what these two risk-takers will do next, but it’s not exactly a revelatory remake. 

‘Tiny Pretty Things’ | 2020

When the star student at a top-tier ballet school dies following an attack, her replacement enters a world filled with secrets, deceit, lies, competition, judgment, cliques, and more. It’s scandalous and saucy — even though the mystery at the center isn’t what’s holding viewers’ attention. It goes without saying that ballet students boast enviable bodies, so when they mesh, it’s quite satisfying. There are plenty of sex scenes, heavily male/male and female/male, in the series. And, if you wait long enough, you’ll be sure to see the arrangement of characters you wish to witness in bed together. It’s the epitome of trash TV, but it’s oh-so fun. They’re just all so pretty…and horny. 

More steamy Netflix original shows for your viewing pleasure

• • Gypsy (2017) | Official Description: Therapist Jean Holloway becomes too immersed in the lives of her patients.
  • Sexify (2021 —) | Official Description: To build an innovative sex app and win a tech competition, a sexually inexperienced student and her friends must explore the daunting world of intimacy.
  • She’s Gotta Have It (2017 — 2019) | Official Description: The story of one woman and her three lovers. TV series based on the film by Spike Lee.
  • Easy (2016 — 2019) | Official Description: Intertwined groups of friends in Chicago fumble through the modern maze of love, sex, technology and culture.
  • Dark Desire/Oscuro Deseo (2020) | Official Description: Married Alma spends a fateful weekend away from home that ignites passion, ends in tragedy, and leads her to question the truth about those close to her.
  • Elite (2018 —) | Official Description: When three working-class teenagers begin attending an exclusive private school in Spain, the clash between them and the wealthy students leads to murder.