Dying for Sex

When Molly gets a terminal cancer diagnosis, she decides to blow up her life. She leaves her loving husband and embarks on a journey of sexual self-discovery. Toying with everything from masturbation and S&M scenarios to pup play and kink parties, Molly (played with spry winningness by Michelle Williams) approaches her impending death as a chance to enjoy the embodied pleasures she had long denied herself. Alongside her, cheering Molly on and helping to take care of her during doctor’s appointments and eventual hospice accommodations, is Nikki (a wounding Jenny Slate). Theirs is a friendship that’s tested and strengthened by Molly’s decision to make the most out of her last months alive. Based on the podcast by the same name (which real-life friends Molly Kochan and Nikki Boyer hosted together, right up until Kochan’s death in March 2019), this FX miniseries is a deliciously sensory affair, placing us squarely in Molly’s skin, at times aching for the touch of a gorgeous man in an elevator, at others craving the warm embrace of her ride-or-die BFF. For crafting a life-affirming tale about death that puts female friendship and frank sexuality at its center, Dying for Sex wins a Peabody award.