Babygirl

In her famous AMC Theaters intro, Nicole Kidman says, “Heartbreak feels good in a place like this.” Her new movie Babygirl has quite a bit of heartbreak and it does indeed feel good – for us, at least, if perhaps not so much for her character, CEO Romy Mathis. This provocative drama will be an eye-opener for a lot of people, especially those who go in not knowing that it’s about a woman whose life is turned upside-down when she decides to finally give in to a longtime fetish. More conservative viewers might want to bring along some pearls to clutch.

Romy is a successful businesswoman with a mostly happy marriage to Jacob (Antonio Banderas). Only their sex life leaves her unfulfilled. The movie’s opening scene finds her pleasuring herself to online porn after faking an orgasm with him. When an internship program begins at her business, the much-younger Samuel (Harris Dickinson) requests she be his mentor. The kid quickly picks up on something, commenting, “You like to be told what to do.” As their interactions continue, he subtly yet undeniably violates professional boundaries. Before long they’re having a full-on sexual fling wherein he issues commands and she feels guilty about getting off on following them.

Babygirl is the movie Fifty Shades of Grey and its sequels wanted to be. It’s a serious exploration of personal kink that radiates intelligence and evokes emotion instead of merely titillating. Writer/director Halina Reijn (Bodies Bodies Bodies) focuses on the cognitive dissonance Romy feels. On one hand, she’s finally finding sexual gratification. On the other, she’s got to cheat on her husband to do it.

Kidman goes deep into the role, fearlessly participating in steamy sex scenes. More than that, she brings out the guilt Romy feels in being unfaithful, as well as how the illicit nature of the affair adds to the turn-on factor. (Samuel is, in essence, ordering her to stay involved.) The actress’s performance is multi-layered. Rather than playing the material for any salacious value, she shrewdly mines the psychological stress her character endures. Kidman is at her finest here.

Scenes between Romy and Samuel are guaranteed to get you on edge. The excellent Harris Dickinson makes Samual a narcissist and an opportunist who is as aroused giving orders as Romy is following them. Running throughout is the suggestion that he could ruin her career by exposing the relationship. That’s a power he eventually becomes drunk on, leading to more severe treatment of Romy. And, of course, the more severe it is, the hotter Romy gets and the more remorse she feels. The sick cycle almost turns the movie into a strange sort of thriller.

Whereas Fifty Shades had an experienced man introducing a naïve young woman to the world of dominance/submission, Babygirl goes the opposite way. Romy has worked hard to build her life into something respectable; this younger guy is generally just looking to get his rocks off. He’s got way less to lose. That dynamic allows for a more nuanced, substantive examination of the subject matter.

Hollywood movies have long been afraid to address female pleasure, so that’s another reason why Babygirl is special. Not even a slightly pat ending can rob this riveting film of that meaning.


out of four

Babygirl is rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, and language. The running time is 1 hour and 54 minutes.


© 2024 Mike McGranaghan