What is Sex, Lies, and Videotape's IQ Score?

Sex, Lies, and Videotape has an IQ Score of 163/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient framework, placing it in the Masterclass tier. The score breaks down to 42/50 Cognitive Stimulation, 39/50 Educational Value, and 41/50 Craft & Quality.

Is Sex, Lies, and Videotape educational?

Sex, Lies, and Videotape is strong on educational value, 39/50 on TVI's rubric, which covers academic content, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, life skills, and knowledge transfer.

How does TV Intelligentsia calculate IQ Score?

TV Intelligentsia's IQ Score is calculated as round((Cognitive Stimulation × 0.4 + Educational Value × 0.35 + Craft & Quality × 0.25) × 4), scoring titles from 0 to 200 across five tiers: Masterclass (≥160), Stimulating (≥130), Competent (≥100), Passive (≥70), and Numbing (<70). The framework is published at tvintelligentsia.com/methodology/.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape , IQ Score 163/200

Sex, Lies, and Videotape has an IQ Score of 163/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient rubric, placing it in the Masterclass tier.

By Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH·Updated 2026-06-17·Methodology

dramaindieromance

163/ 200

Masterclass

Measurably increases domain knowledge or cognitive capacity

Score Breakdown

Cognitive Stimulation/50

Educational Value/50

Craft & Quality/50

IQ = round((Cognitive × 0.4 + Educational × 0.35 + Craft × 0.25) × 4) · How we score →

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Why you should trust this score

Scored under Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH

Physician and founding editor. Maintains the adult catalog against the published rubric and reviews the rubric application.

Methodology

Published rubric, v1.2

Formula

round(C × 0.40 + E × 0.35 + Q × 0.25) × 4

Database scale

2,338 titles, version-controlled

How we stay independent. We accept no studio money. We pay for our own streaming subscriptions. Our reviewers see no sponsor data, no affiliate revenue, and no screener access in exchange for coverage. More about how we work →

The TVI Take

Steven Soderbergh's 1989 directorial debut, the Cannes Palme d'Or winner that launched the modern American independent film movement. The structural commitment to letting the four-character video-confessional premise render genuine adult-relationship cognitive material, and the canonical Sundance / Miramax breakthrough that established the indie-distribution architecture, is the canonical 1980s-into-1990s indie-cinema founding text.

Where to Watch

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