Movie Review: ‘Babygirl’

Opening in theaters December 25th is ‘Babygirl,’ directed by Halina Reijn and starring Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde, and Antonio Banderas.

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Initial Thoughts

(L to R) Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson in ‘Babygirl’. Photo: A24.

Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, directors like Paul Verhoeven and Adrian Lyne brought the genre that came to be known as the “erotic thriller” to the forefront of popular cinema. Not surprisingly, films like ‘Basic Instinct,’ ‘Indecent Proposal,’ and ‘Fatal Attraction’ were also largely written by men and filtered through a male gaze, with the women in the movies perceived as either threats or lacking real agency.

‘Babygirl’ turns that around. Director and writer Halina Reijn (‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’) takes one of the more shopworn tropes of the genre, which could easily be spat out as a conventional, generic thriller, and flips it on its head, aided by a tremendous, raw performance from Nicole Kidman. ‘Babygirl’ isn’t without its flaws, but it’s a movie that will trigger discussion on a deeper level that some of those old chestnuts from three or more decades back.

Story and Direction

(L to R) Director Halina Reijn and Nicole Kidman in ‘Babygirl’. Photo: A24.

Romy Mathis (Nicole Kidman) is the successful CEO of a New York-based company that specializes in automated warehouse solutions. She lives in a luxurious apartment (and summer home) with her husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas), a theatre director, and their two daughters. On the surface, she’s an attentive mother, a loving wife, a focused and laser-sharp chief executive. Her life is controlled and scheduled to the minute. Except – she can’t reach orgasm with her husband. After they make love, she usually retreats to her office and pulls up some porn on her laptop to help get her across the finish line.

So when a new, much younger, and rather cocky intern named Samuel (Harris Dickinson) starts at the company and begins to rather aggressively flirt with her, Romy is drawn toward him despite all the flashing red warning lights. And when they finally consummate their relationship, it turns out that Romy harbors secret desires to be utterly submissive – a direct response to the steely control she wields over every other part of her life. It seems Samuel wants to both please and dominate her – although his exact motivations are vague and his intrusion into other parts of her life threatens to bring their affair fully to light.

Harris Dickinson in ‘Babygirl’. Photo: A24.

While that plot sounds like it could be lifted from plenty of other movies, Reijn takes it in a different direction: the danger inherent in the situation, and the sexual dynamic between Romy and Samuel, rather perversely unlocks her as a human being in ways she’s never experienced before. The loss of control – both physically when they get together and psychologically as the whole scenario legitimately hurtles her carefully structured life toward collapse – is what awakens a new kind of strength in Romy.

This is interesting, provocative material that upends the way in which these types of stories play out, and Reijn’s steady, uncluttered direction maintains both a level of tension (at least for the first two acts) and a surprising balance of tones as the story veers from romance to eroticism to suspense to even comedy. There’s also no judgment whatsoever of Romy’s needs. On the other hand, there’s a repetitive nature to the script – particularly in its latter stages – and a rather rushed-seeming resolution to the story that dilutes its impact. Romy’s journey seems to come to an abrupt conclusion that wraps up several of the story’s major issues – including a subplot involving corporate culture that seems a bit undercooked – while leaving their ramifications unaddressed.

The Cast

(L to R) Antonio Banderas and Nicole Kidman in ‘Babygirl’. Photo: A24.

Although the ultimate aftermath of Romy’s dilemma may not equal the stakes that are raised, there’s no doubting Nicole Kidman’s performance here. She exposes herself not so much physically as emotionally and psychologically, and she’s masterful at communicating both Romy’s surprise and eventual pleasure in what transpires between her and Samuel. Our only problem with all this is that there’s still a bit of a remove that stays with Kidman despite the fact that she pushes herself into difficult territory; the actor’s own personal image is so carefully sculpted and controlled that some of that still bleeds into her work here – even when Romy is fully letting go.

Even so, it’s a great performance that’s matched by Harris Dickinson (‘Triangle of Sadness’) as Samuel, a volatile mix of not-quite-toxic masculinity and in-touch-with-his-feelings manhood who discovers just what buttons in Romy to push. He’s decidedly manipulative as well, and even what little of his own story comes to light could well be a fiction he creates. He’s the Joker to Romy’s Dark Knight, if you will, and Dickinson effectively conveys the persona of an intelligent chaos agent who might just be the ultimate tech-bro CEO someday.

The third part of this triangle is Antonio Banderas, playing against his own usually sexy image as Romy’s loving, attentive but in some ways sedate husband, Jacob. At first blissfully unaware of the conflicts roiling within his wife, his eventual response to what he discovers about her goes against the grain as well, giving the performance unexpected nuance.

Final Thoughts

Nicole Kidman in ‘Babygirl’. Photo: A24.

There have been a number of films lately that explore human sexuality and female agency against various sociological backdrops – ‘Anora’ shows us the grittiness of life as a sex worker and how that life can be tossed aside by the wealthy like a broken toy, while ‘Nightbitch’ puts us into the mind of a creative woman desperate to reclaim her identity as she plays the role of suburban mom.

‘Babygirl’ explores the corridors of corporate power and how unbridled lust can fracture the carefully laid plans of anyone. It isn’t entirely successful at what it attempts, but the film’s ambition to take the erotic thriller genre and turn it inside out – taking the agency out of the male hands and placing it firmly in the woman’s – combines with the great work from Kidman and Dickinson to make this a fascinating if uneven film.

‘Babygirl’ receives 7 out of 10 stars.

What is the plot of ‘Babygirl’?

A high-powered CEO (Nicole Kidman) begins a torrid affair with a new, much younger intern (Harris Dickinson) at her company, putting her marriage, her family, and her career at risk.

Who is in the cast of ‘Babygirl’?

Nicole Kidman in ‘Babygirl’. Photo: A24.

List of Movies Directed by Halina Reijn:

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