9. Romance
With half a dozen films by the name of Romance available it's easy to get confused, but Catherine Breillat's 1999 slice of eroticism represents one of the early "mainstream" movies of the era to feature scenes of unsimulated penetrative sex. Caroline Ducey plays Marie, a young woman who's boyfriend refuses to have sex with her, leading her to embark on a journey of sexual exploration with a series of other men. The hardcore sex scenes are offset by a strangely objective study of Caroline's increasing detachment, while the final scenes see her moving further away from conventional sexual encounters towards sadomasochism with an older man. Romance marks the beginning of a period of mainstream and arthouse cinema experimenting with unsimulated sex.