Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) Spoiler-Free Summary – What It's About

The film unfurls as a breezy, kaleidoscopic comedy that treats the universal quest for intimacy like a series of playful sketches. Inspired by David Reuben’s frank guide to sexuality, the story stitches together seven loosely linked vignettes, each posing a different question about desire while slipping between eras—from the gilded courts of Elizabethan drama to the sterile corridors of modern research labs. A whimsical opening, set to Cole Porter’s “Let’s Misbehave” amid a sea of white rabbits, signals the tone: cheeky, irreverent, and unapologetically curious about the quirks of human connection.

Among the colorful cast, the Fool—a mischievous court jester navigating royal intrigue—offers a bawdy look at ancient courtship rites. In a bustling 20th‑century practice, Dr. Ross finds his professional composure tested by an unexpected pastoral confession, while Fabrizio, a newlywed Italian husband, grapples with the mysteries of his wife's pleasure in a series of daring public escapades. A dinner with future in‑laws turns chaotic when Sam, a well‑meaning father, succumbs to an impulsive wardrobe change that blurs gender lines, and Victor Shakapopulis, a self‑styled para‑scientist, teams up with an eccentric researcher and a bright-eyed reporter named Helen to poke fun at the absurdities of sexual experimentation. The final vignette even imagines a man’s internal physiology as a bustling mission‑control room, turning biology into slapstick theatre.

Through its rapid‑fire structure and bright, satirical visual style, the film invites viewers to laugh at the taboos we cling to and the earnest misunderstandings that bind us. The humor is both sophisticated and slapstick, with each segment offering a fresh lens on love, lust, and the endless curiosity that drives us to ask—and answer—the questions we’re often too shy to pose. By the end, the audience is left with a warm, mischievous sense that intimacy, in all its forms, is as wildly unpredictable as it is universally human.