The Erotic Thriller is Back and Better Than Ever

July 17, 2026

Cinema appears to be experiencing a resurgence of bold filmmaking. In an ever-changing film industry, marked by the rise of genre-defying storytelling and independent films breaking through at the box office, director Georgia Bernstein embraces both with her debut feature, Night Nurse.

The erotic thriller follows Eleni, a young nurse who begins working the night shift at a retirement community. As a series of disturbing scam calls target the residents, she becomes increasingly entangled with a mysterious patient, where caregiving, compulsion, and manipulation go hand in hand, placing the erotic thriller in an unconventional setting with all the right tension. Bernstein brings psychological seriousness to a genre long dismissed as purely commercial. Night Nurse falls into place with films like Body Heat, In the Cut, Crash, and Babygirl, but the voice is entirely her own.

We sat down with Bernstein to discuss the release of Night Nurse, a shared admiration for Cronenberg, the hopeful resurgence of the erotic thriller, and what the future of the film industry may hold for Bernstein’s continued exploration of the genre.

Words and Interview by Bernice Nguyen
Photography by Lindsey Kusterman

How did the idea for Night Nurse come to fruition, and what inspirations drew you to write the story?

The idea for Night Nurse came from a scam my grandmother nearly fell for called the "Grandparent Scam." Someone called her pretending to be my brother and told her he'd been in a terrible car accident and needed money. She went all the way to the bank to wire the money, but fortunately the bank tellers recognized it as a scam and stopped her. After that, I became fascinated by these scammers. I was struck by how theatrical their performances were, pretending to be someone else and inventing these dramatic situations. I kept thinking about whether I could turn that idea into a thriller.

At the same time, I've always loved erotic thrillers, especially David Cronenberg's Crash. One thing I admire about that film is how it eroticizes something that's not typically considered erotic. Through a similar lens, I wanted to do that with phone scams. Around the time I was writing the film, I was living in Chicago, where I kept seeing billboards advertising medical school with the slogan, "It's amazing to be needed." That phrase made me think about the compulsive side of caregiving, and it became the perfect way to connect caregiving with the scams that had happened to my grandmother.

You mention that the erotic thriller has largely disappeared from mainstream cinema, despite audiences still being fascinated by desire, obsession, and power, and it’s a bold genre to choose for your debut. Why do you think the genre lost its place, and what made now feel like the right moment to revisit it?

I think the erotic thriller largely disappeared for a couple of decades after reaching a peak in the '90s with films like In the Cut. Part of the reason may be that sex has become so available online. We live in a culture saturated with images, many of which use a kind of pseudo-eroticism to sell things, so people no longer need to go to the movies to seek that experience. To me, that's an opportunity to rethink the erotic thriller. I think the contemporary erotic thriller is characterized by much more restraint. I've often said that In the Mood for Love is one of the most erotic films ever made, even though there's essentially no sex in it. It's built on longing, yearning, fantasy, and unresolved desire. That's what interested me while making Night Nurse, and it's what continues to interest me.

The film is set in a retirement community, which is a particularly tricky setting given the erotic genre it falls into. What drew you to exploring intimacy within a space that's so rarely portrayed as erotic? What challenges did this bring along?

The retirement community is often the hook of the film because it seems like an oxymoron to pair that setting with an erotic thriller. I actually wrote the film to be shot in my grandmother's real house, and that's where we filmed it. She moved there in the 1970s, so the house still has all this '70s and '80s décor—matching wallpaper and furniture, an old landline, alongside a flat-screen television. It contains touchpoints from different eras, which creates this feeling of being unmoored in time. I think there's something deeply unsettling about not knowing exactly what time period you're in, and that feeling helped shape the film's tone. It's also an incredibly pristine suburban setting, and I find suburbia inherently unsettling. There's a long tradition of horror and thrillers exploring that alienation, and I think it was the perfect environment for this story.

I think a lot of filmmakers have trouble portraying desire in a way that's taken seriously today, especially with the rise of the digital world, where information, opinions, and internet humor spread so quickly, and Night Nurse treats desire with psychological weight rather than irony or camp. Was it important to you to reclaim the erotic thriller as a serious genre rather than something people don't always take seriously?

I was thinking about this recently because Catherine Breillat is one of the filmmakers who inspires me most. Part of what makes her films work is that they're in French, which I think is an incredibly beautiful language. I actually think it's difficult to make an erotic thriller—or even a romance—in English because English can sound awkward or corny. That was a real challenge for me.

That's one reason I admire filmmakers like David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan. They're English-language filmmakers, but they approach these subjects with complete seriousness. While there are moments in Night Nurse that I personally find funny, I wanted the overall tone to remain serious, in the spirit of a Catherine Breillat film. I wanted audiences to sit with discomfort and see what that experience feels like.

The film has been compared to films like Body Heat, In the Cut, Crash, and Babygirl—films I'd argue remain timelessly bold. Were there any filmmakers, writers, or artists outside of cinema that shaped the inspirations of the film?

I've already mentioned many of my cinematic inspirations, so I'll talk about the score.

Stephen and Sam, our composers, created a score I'm incredibly proud of. One major inspiration was Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation. Although it's a very different film, it uses a recurring musical theme that returns again and again. I wanted to do something similar because hearing the same melody, even as the story becomes more intense, creates this feeling that you're trapped and can't escape. I also listened to the score from 3 Women constantly while writing. It has such an unsettling, strange atmosphere that helped put me in the right headspace. It also inspired us to make the flute a central voice in our score, paired with piano.

The relationship at the center of the film may not be universally relatable, but the psychological experience behind it certainly is, particularly through its exploration of the lengths we're willing to go for love and care. What do you hope viewers take away from the darker side of those impulses?

More than anything, I hope viewers come away with the feeling of the film. It's meant to take you on a ride. It's not a moralistic film, and it's certainly not meant to represent what it's actually like to be a nurse. It's really about interpersonal relationships and the ways caregiving exists within romance, friendships, and families. It's about the compulsive side of caregiving. In many ways, the phrase from that medical school billboard—"It's amazing to be needed"—captures the entire film in one sentence.

Growing up around filmmaking inevitably gives you a close view of the industry, but every filmmaker ultimately develops their own voice. At what point did you feel like you had found yours while making Night Nurse?

Growing up in Los Angeles, it often felt like everyone wanted to work in the film industry. I studied theater in college and originally wanted to become an actress, but one of my theater professors told me I wasn't very good at acting.

Looking back, I think she really saw something in me. That pushed me toward writing and directing, where I ultimately felt much more at home.

After college, I moved to Chicago because I didn't want to return to Los Angeles right away. I wanted to find my own path and make work outside the industry. I'm grateful I did because Night Nurse became exactly the film we wanted to make. I was fortunate to have producers who supported that vision, so I never had to think about commercial expectations or what audiences might want. Ironically, I think the film connects with people precisely because I wasn't trying to force that connection.

Who are some actors or directors you’d like to work with next?

Cemre and I, who stars in Night Nurse, are both obsessed with so many actors. I'd love to work with Isabelle Huppert. I absolutely adore her and think she's remarkable. I also love Julianne Moore and Jesse Plemons. There are so many actors I'd be thrilled to work with, and I hope I'm lucky enough to cross paths with some of them.

If any, what changes would you like to see in the film industry moving forward?

I'd love to continue seeing more original films succeed. This has been a really exciting summer because we've seen original movies perform well, and I think that's incredibly encouraging for independent cinema. I hope we continue to see more funding and attention directed toward those kinds of films. Overall, I think we're moving in a very optimistic direction.

This is your debut feature, and it received significant acclaim after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Did making your first feature change your understanding of the kinds of stories you want to tell going forward?

I was really lucky that I got to make exactly the movie that I wanted to make. I just hope to continue having opportunities to do that. I’m interested in continuing to work within the erotic thriller genre, expanding what these films can mean, and exploring how we can make these kinds of movies within our culture right now.

We Were Never Meant to Be Contained

CHARLIE LE MINDU wears ROBE by ÉGLISE ST SULPICE, TITAN BRIDGE by LISA MICHALIK, DR GELLÉE, DR BOUJENAH, EARRINGS by ABRAXAS PARIS

CHARLIE LE MINDU wears HAT by CHARLIE LE MINDU AW11, TROUSER by CHARLIE LE MINDU SS12, BOOTS by ROMBAUT

CHARLIE LE MINDU wears ROBE by ÉGLISE ST SULPICE, JOCKSTRAP by SNIFFIES, SHOES by DR. MARTENS, EARRINGS by ABRAXAS PARIS

MUCHAS PROBLEMAS wears T-SHIRT by THE CHURCH OF EUTHANASIA X KRIS KODA, JOCKSTRAP by SNIFFIES, SHOES STYLIST’S OWN

CHARLIE LE MINDU wears WIG CAP by FOX BEAUTY

CHARLIE LE MINDU wears FACE MASK by CHARLIE LE MINDU AW11, SHOES by CHARLIE LE MINDU X ABRA SS26

MUCHAS PROBLEMAS wears BREAST SHIRT and PENIS by BEAU GLAZIER, SHOES by CHARLIE LE MINDU CHARLIEWOOD

CHARLIE LE MINDU wears SHIRT by PRADA, PENIS CHAIR by BEAU GLAZIER, VINTAGE GARTERS

MUCHAS PROBLEMAS wears SHOES by ROMBAUT, PLEASERS, PANTS STYLIST’S ARCHIVE, SHOES by ROMBAUT, EARRINGS by ABRAXAS PARIS

HOT LOVE, Extracts from Persephone, Stop

W Hotels Finds a New Rhythm in Italy

Florence

W Florence occupies the former Grand Hotel Majestic, a rationalist-modernist building designed by Florentine architect Lando Bartoli in 1968. It is an unexpected place to begin in a city where the Renaissance tends to dominate nearly every conversation about architecture. I liked that the hotel does not try to out-Florence Florence. Instead, it turns towards a more recent chapter of Italian design.

Genius Loci Architettura restored the building, while AvroKO created interiors influenced by the 1960s and ’70s. Curved forms, polished surfaces, warm wood and graphic details appear throughout, but the references never become a full period exercise. The hotel feels contemporary, with just enough of the past left visible beneath it.

What stayed with me most was the movement between the city outside and the calmer spaces within. W Florence sits near Santa Maria Novella and only a short walk from the Duomo, yet its central courtyard creates a surprising pause from the streets around it. The hotel has 119 rooms, alongside Akira Back’s restaurant, the W Lounge and Zefiro, its rooftop overlooking the city. Its character comes less from one dramatic feature than from the way materials, shapes and spaces have been put together.

Rome

W Rome, the brand’s first Italian property, occupies two connected 19th-century palazzi close to the Spanish Steps. Where Florence feels controlled, Rome works through collision. Meyer Davis placed saturated colour, patterned surfaces and contemporary furniture against the formality of the original architecture, allowing the two periods to sit beside one another without trying to resolve the difference.

That approach feels right for Rome. It is a city where architecture, daily life and different centuries seem to overlap without much concern for consistency. The hotel reflects some of that looseness. Historic details remain visible, but the rooms surrounding them feel lighter and less formal than the palazzi might suggest.

I liked how much the atmosphere changed throughout the day. The courtyards felt quiet and almost private in the morning, while the rooftop opened the building towards the city later on. At Giano, Michelin-starred chef Ciccio Sultano brings Sicilian ingredients and methods into a Roman setting, without turning the experience into something overly ceremonial. The same ease carries through the hotel. It feels polished, but the atmosphere remains easy.

Sardinia

At W Sardinia, Poltu Quatu, the landscape arrives before the hotel does. Poltu Quatu means “hidden port,” and the village is built around a marina inside a natural fjord between Porto Cervo and Baia Sardinia. Whitewashed buildings descend towards the water, while granite cliffs rise behind them. From certain angles, the property seems to fold into the coastline.

Designed by Meyer Davis, with architecture by DE.TALES, the hotel includes 157 rooms and suites. Its interiors draw from Sardinian stone, craft and woven textures, but the references remain quiet. Natural tones and tactile surfaces connect the rooms to the island without reducing it to a predictable image of Mediterranean life.

The hotel is strongest when it allows the setting to do most of the work. TANIT faces the marina, while the W Lounge and WET Deck open towards the water and surrounding rock. The days settle into their own rhythm: slow mornings, long lunches, time at sea and evenings near the harbour. There are local food experiences, collaborations with artisans and boat trips around the coast, but the property does not seem anxious to fill every hour. Sardinia already provides enough.

W is also developing 29 private residences beside the hotel, planned to open in 2027, with terraces, gardens and plunge pools alongside access to the property’s services. The project suggests that the brand sees Poltu Quatu as more than a seasonal stop, although the hotel is at its most convincing when it simply responds to what is already there.

Three Interpretations of Italy
A common W language runs through the three hotels, but it never becomes a uniform. Florence looks towards postwar Italian modernism. Rome places contemporary expression inside the weight of two historic palazzi. Sardinia steps back and lets water, stone and geography shape the experience.

This distinction matters. International hotels often promise a connection to a place while offering much the same room, service and atmosphere wherever they open. These properties work best when they resist that sameness. Even the W Insider—the brand’s more intuitive version of a traditional concierge—is designed around personal knowledge of the destination rather than formality for its own sake.

The three hotels are connected through the Italian Tour Package, combining suite stays, dining and local experiences. Florence includes a collaboration with designer Domenico Orefice and a leather cocktail experience. Rome moves through rooftop aperitivo and the city’s food culture, while Sardinia centres on coastal cooking, the marina and the surrounding landscape.

W Hotels is not abandoning the confidence and energy that made it recognisable. It is learning when to push forward and when to leave space. Across Italy, that makes the brand feel not quieter, but more certain of itself.