For a brief time in the 2010s, Valentine’s Day weekend meant the release of a new movie in the steamy and/or laughable Fifty Shades trilogy starring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. Whether we truly madly deeply loved the movies, or loved to hate them ultimately did not matter! The series, based on the novels by E.L. James, was a phenomenon. I still get Ellie Goulding’s song “Love Me Like You Do” from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack stuck in my head if I even think about this wild series. Curious to see what the fuss was about? Or maybe it’s not your first time, but you need a refresher? All three Fifty Shades films are available to stream, so here’s how to watch them in order.
It’s pretty straightforward. There are only three movies in this series–no spinoffs or prequels or cinematic universe yet. (Technically, James has written six Fifty Shades books, but half of those are alternate POV versions of the other half. It wouldn’t really make sense to adapt the Christian Grey POV books at this point.) Her other books, The Mister and The Missus, have not yet been adapted into film.
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
The first film, based on the first book, introduces an innocent hardware store employee named Anastasia Steele (Johnson) and a mysterious billionaire BDSM enthusiast Christian Grey (Dornan). But it’s not a love story…yet. The first film centers on the contract that Christian has Ana sign before they begin a sexual, not romantic, relationship.
Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
The second film is all about Christian and Ana coming back together after the events of the first film. Darker also delves very deep into Christian’s past. The stakes are higher than ever. It’s a lot. It’s also the one with the masquerade!
Fifty Shades Freed (2018)
Christian’s tastes may be “singular” but the trilogy still ends with a run-of-the-mill, conventional wedding. Well, kind of. The third and last movie starts with their wedding and honeymoon, then throws a lot of conflict and danger at the newlyweds before they can finally enjoy their happy ending.
