Babygirl (2024)
Directed by: Halina Reijn
Premise: An elite executive of a technology company (Nicole Kidman) secretly desires to be sexually dominated. She enters into an affair with a younger man (Harris Dickinson) who is interning at the company.
What Works: Babygirl is an exploration of female sexuality. The desire explored here is very specific but the film is a provocative and frequently fascinating story with implications for gender, sexuality, and power and where those issues intersect. Babygirl is especially interesting in the way it runs up against lean-in style feminism and some popular platitudes about female sexuality and leadership. Romy is a senior executive who is married with children; outwardly she is the image of success but inwardly she is highly dissatisfied and craves to be put in a bottom position, at least where sexual gratification is concerned. She seizes upon an opportunity with Samuel, a brash intern who gives Romey what she wants. The complicated power dynamics of their affair and the satisfaction they get from it require the viewer to consider the various aspects of our own relationships and what we take for granted as healthy or normal. Babygirl explores Romy’s desire through dramatic action. There is no monologuing, just very well-structured scenes and dialogue that is loaded with subtext. Writer and director Halina Reijn is precise and purposeful in her filmmaking. The way the camera is placed and the action is blocked draw out the meaning of the scene and allow the audience to see what’s happening behind the action. Babygirl is a showcase for Nicole Kidman. She has consistently played comparable characters in similarly themed stories such as Big Little Lies and Birth but Babygirl gives Kidman the material and the latitude to really explore sexuality and power in a bold and interesting way.
What Doesn’t: The men of Babygirl are one-dimensional. The cuckolded husband (Antonio Banderas) is mostly an oblivious good guy. Samuel remains mysterious, which is key to Romy’s infatuation with him, but Samuel is also a human player in this drama. The filmmakers regard Samuel in much the same way Romy does. As a result, Samuel is never fully characterized and that keeps the drama and the film’s exploration of sexuality one-sided. Both the protagonist and the story of Babygirl rush into the affair. Samuel and Romy recognize their mutual attraction and we can see the spark in their initial interactions but the filmmakers don’t draw out the sexual tension. A longer seduction would make the affair more convincing, especially given the stakes for Romy. The film also rushes through the ending. The affair starts and stops quickly and the fallout between Romy and her husband is glossed over. This undermines the stakes of the affair which was a key part of its attraction for Romy and for the viewer.
Bottom Line: Babygirl is a provocative film that is thoughtful and extremely well made. It is so invested in Romy’s internal story that it misses the complexity of the supporting characters but Babygirl’s examination of gender, sexuality, and power offers a lot to consider.
Episode: #1031 (January 12, 2024)