Before directing The Matrix, the Wachowski Sisters made their directorial debut with this sultry neo-noir about an ex-con (Gina Gershon) and a mobster’s wife (Jennifer Tilly) who fall in love and conspire to steal a cool $2 million. Tilly and Gershon sink their teeth into the pulpy atmosphere, rattling off hard-boiled come-ons while keeping pace with a clockwork plot full of double crosses and genre twists. Though its steamy sex scenes grabbed all the headlines upon its release, Bound holds up as a beautifully shot and brilliantly constructed thriller, and a fascinating time capsule of two filmmakers exploring their gender identities.

Queerly Beloved is presented in partnership with Paradise.