One of the Most Controversial Erotic Movies of All Time Is Being Barred for Some Viewers by Netflix

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Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) walks through a train carriage in a glamorous dress in 'Spectre'.

Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).

While Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried's The Housemaid continues doing massive business at the box office, another erotic movie — perhaps the most controversial of them all — is becoming more difficult to access for some Netflix users. The streamer has barred Blue Is the Warmest Colour, along with over 100 more titles, for subscribers to its ad-supported tier. This happens mainly for legal reasons, as Netflix doesn't have the necessary rights to play ads on certain titles. Blue is the Warmest Colour was released over a decade ago, and it instantly attracted controversy for its graphic sex scenes between stars Léa Seydoux, who played a painter, and Adèle Exarchopoulous, who played a teenager experiencing a sexual awakening. Further controversy ensued when both stars said that the atmosphere on set was highly toxic.

Blue Is the Warmest Colour premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, where it ended up winning the prestigious Palme d'Or. It was the first time ever that the festival's top prize was also given to actors, with both Seydoux and Exarchopoulous winning along with director Abdellatif Kechiche. The film was a box office hit, grossing around $20 million globally. Based on a graphic novel of the same name, Blue Is the Warmest Colour now holds a "certified fresh" 88% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics' consensus reads, "Raw, honest, powerfully acted, and deliciously intense, Blue Is the Warmest Color offers some of modern cinema's most elegantly composed, emotionally absorbing drama."

'Blue Is the Warmest Colour' Was Tainted by Controversy

Over the years, the film's legacy has been affected by repeated allegations made against Kechiche. A 10-minute sex-scene was shot over 10 days by the filmmaker, leading to both stars experiencing high levels of stress. Seydoux said in an interview with The Daily Beast that she couldn't sit and felt dizzy after delivering over 100 takes of a stare-down shot. She smiled at Exarchopoulous after they were done, which sent Kechiche into a flying rage. According to Seydoux, he hurled a monitor out into the street. Both actors said that they would probably never work with him again. "In America, we’d all be in jail," Seydoux said, referring to the environment on set. Blue Is the Warmest Colour is available on Netflix, but not on the ad-supported tier. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.