Dying for Sex TV Review: Michelle Williams leads a profound and funny comedy-drama about sexuality and mortality

Jenny Slate co-stars in the poignant series based on podcast telling the true story of Molly Kochan's journey. The post Dying for Sex TV Review: Michelle Williams leads a profound and funny comedy-drama about sexuality and mortality appeared first on JoBlo.

Mar 27, 2025 - 19:37

Dying for Sex TV Review: Michelle Williams leads a profound and funny comedy-drama about sexuality and mortality

Plot: After receiving a diagnosis of Stage IV cancer, Molly leaves her husband Steve and begins to explore the full breadth and complexity of her sexual desires for the first time in her life. Her best friend Nikki is by her side throughout the journey, on hand for medical appointments, vibrator emergencies, topping lessons and oh so many laughs..

Review: It would be an incredible understatement to say that every dying person’s journey is powerful, but the impact lingers even longer for those close to the person who passes. After experiencing her best friend succumbing to a terminal illness, Nikki Boyer chronicled the ups and downs of Molly Kochan’s final year in the beautiful podcast Dying for Sex. Full of hilarious moments in equal measure with heartbreakingly sad ones, the story of Molly’s exploration of herself has become the eight-episode limited series of the same name. With Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate playing Molly and Nikki, Dying for Sex is a hilariously blunt look at one woman facing her own mortality while embracing her sexuality, her past trauma, and the mystery of what comes next. At the same time, her best friend accompanies her until the very end. It is a wonderfully funny story that will have every viewer in tears when they reach the final episode.

With her breast cancer in remission and struggling with her marriage, Molly (Michelle Williams) learns that her cancer has returned and is no longer treatable. With her husband Steve (Jay Duplass) unwilling to have sex with her, Molly leaves him and asks her best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate) to take care of him through the final months and years of her life. Nikki, an actress and a bit of a flake, takes on the momentous challenge of doctor’s appointments, bills, treatments, and more while also trying to keep her relationship with Noah (Kelvin Yu) going. Molly, meanwhile, decides she wants to experience sex in ways she was never bold enough to do before, which fills the series with subcultures and fetishes that have not often been shown on television in such a frank and honest manner. From domination and submission to role-play, sex toys, and some casual urination, Dying for Sex is at once blatantly funny about the subject at hand but also honest and respectful.

The series explores those in Molly’s orbit, including a counselor and friend, Sonya (Esco Jouley), who helps Molly recognize what she can still be as a sexual being even as her life is coming to an end. Her old-school doctor, Jerry Pankowitz (David Rasche), serves as the logical and scientific voice of Molly’s pat,h even if he does not always understand how she is exploring her options. Sissy Spacek plays Gail, Molly’s mother, who has a distant relationship with her daughter caused by a trauma they share from Molly’s youth. There is also Molly’s neighbor, played by Rob Delaney, who becomes one of the closest people in her quest to achieve orgasm despite initially seeming like he may be an antagonist rather than a partner. The series also features Molly’s many sexual partners as well as friends she makes along the way, each of whom factors into her blossoming self. It is a wonderful and touching ensemble that hits the perfect balance of funny and sad while making every new discovery one that compounds the inevitable end of Molly’s life.

The core of Dying for Sex is Molly, with Michelle Williams turning in another astounding performance. While Williams is no stranger to powerful roles, playing Molly may be one of her career’s best. Embracing the pain of cancer invading Molly to give strength to the numerous orgasms she experiences, Williams delivers an unvarnished and nakedly honest portrayal of a human being favoring the opportunity of living rather than allowing the fear of death to drive her. There is depression, sadness, pain, heartache, and anger throughout the series, but they are always overshadowed by the joy, love, happiness, and positivity that Molly brings to the world. As good as Michelle Williams is, I was blown away by Jenny Slate as Nikki Boyer. Slate has consistently been an underrated talent in comedies as much as her dramatic work in films like Obvious Child. In Dying for Sex, Slate is hilariously funny but also embodies the deepest love and friendship Nikki shared with Molly, something that goes beyond acting to something more tangible. Williams and Slate achieve chemistry in their performances that surpass any sexual partnerships seen in the series.

Nikki Boyer’s podcast is wonderfully adapted by showrunner Elizabeth Meriweather (New Girl, The Dropout), who co-created Dying for Sex with Kim Rosenstock. The pair are joined by writers Sheila Callaghan, Keisha Zollar, Madeleine George, Harris Danow, Sasha Stewart, and Sabrina Wu, who find a way to fill a lot of story into eight half-hour chapters without any episodes feeling wasted. Six of the eight episodes were directed by Shannon Murphy (Babyteeth), with Chris Teague on the remaining two. Dying for Sex is never shy about sexual content, with multiple sequences featuring full male nudity in addition to sex acts showing just enough without turning the series into something more exploitative. A quirky sensibility pervades the series, allowing the surreal and strange to share space with the deeper subject matter. The visual approach to showing Molly’s final days is handled respectfully while still allowing comedy to lighten things without becoming disrespectful.

Having experienced the final moments of a loved one’s life, Dying for Sex hit me harder than I anticipated. The series filled me with as much joy and happiness as laughter, something you would not think would work as well as it does with such heavy subject matter. Nikki Boyer’s podcast has become a wonderful narrative journey that showcases two of the year’s best performances. Dying for Sex will break down even the most stoic and emotionally distant person watching it as it builds up wave after wave of feelings that come crashing ashore in the final chapter of Molly’s tale. I was left devastated in the best way possible, and I am sure countless viewers will feel the same way. This is a standout series, with everyone involved doing some of the best work of their careers. Dying for Sex boasts stellar leading performances amongst a fantastic ensemble. Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate are as close to perfect as you can get.

Dying for Sex premieres April 4th on FX.

Dying for Sex

AMAZING

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