- Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas
- January 10th 2025
- 115
- Halina Reijn
Nicole Kidman plays a high-powered CEO who embarks on a risky affair with one of her interns.
Nicole Kidman has received several awards this season for her performance in Babygirl and this recognition is highly deserved.
In the erotic thriller, written and directed by Halina Reijn, the Australian actress plays Romy Mathis, the CEO of the robotics business Tensile.
Romy, who is sexually unfulfilled by her husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas), becomes attracted to one of her company’s new interns, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), and risks her marriage, her family and her career by striking up a dominant/submissive sexual relationship with him.
Kidman is extraordinary in this role and does all of the work when it comes to the erotic and sensual side. They are many sex scenes and moments where Romy explores her kinks and Kidman is fearless.
But there is much more to this character than her sexual desires. Romy is a very complex person who feels shame about her wants and needs. She is impulsive and irrational and seems to get a thrill out of risking it all for this intern.
While it starts out like a bit of reckless fun, the situation becoming progressively more intense and risky and Samuel ends up in the position of power, threatening to bring her life crashing down with one simple phone call. These power dynamics are interesting but perhaps not explored in as much depth and detail as it needed.
The biggest issue with Babygirl is that this central affair isn’t completely convincing and that’s possibly down to the casting of Dickinson. He’s not charming or charismatic and Samuel is actually quite a weird person.
Kidman works hard to really sell the desire and pleasure but you don’t feel that from Dickinson. Perhaps Samuel wasn’t actually attracted to Romy and simply wanted to take control of her power.
Also, the film is not as sexy as advertised, especially in comparison to erotic thrillers like Basic Instinct and Secretary.
Kidman deserves all the acclaim and plaudits for her performance and for making Babygirl better than it otherwise would have been.
In cinemas from Friday 10th January.
By Hannah Wales.
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