Release Date – 10th January 2025, Cert – 18, Run-time – 1 hour 55 minutes, Director – Helina Reijn
Tech CEO Romy (Nicole Kidman) finds herself entering into an affair when a new intern (Harris Dickinson) fulfils her submissive sexual desires.
The sex scenes and montages highlighting the sub-dom relationship and desires of tech CEO Romy (Nicole Kidman, on strong and bold form) and new intern Samuel (Harris Dickinson) will likely be what creates people’s overall opinion of Babygirl. Some have found a humorous side to sequences where Dickinson commands Kidman to crawl around and lick milk from a saucer like a cat, others have simply viewed them as strange. Undeniably these scenes and the tension between the two construct a good deal of Halina Reijn’s film, one very different from her previous feature; the brilliant Bodies Bodies Bodies. They make way for themes of power and manipulation, however these feel only lightly touched upon.
When made the central focus and directly dealt with there’s an additional intensity to the film in regards to its dramas and the central relationship, which sees Romy entering into an affair with Samuel when he fulfils the submissive sexual desires that her husband (Antonio Banderas) doesn’t seem to understand, the opening scene sees her leave the bed to go to another film to climax to submissive porn. Yet, with the back and forth of the relationship, the worries that it will be uncovered and ruin Romy’s family life and career, there’s little time for the details of power and control. There’s an instant spark of interest to these moments when playing out, giving the film a jump, but it quickly fades away to get back into the various other points present in the narrative.
While generally dealing with things well when they appear there is something of a squash as things near the closing stages. While just under 2 hours the film starts to feel overlong whilst trying to push some of the lesser-dealt-with themes in order to further establish their appearance and mention in the closing stages – particularly regarding Sophie Wilde as Romy’s assistant Esme, wishing to progress in the company with the help of one of the few women who made it in the industry. However, as Esme appears to start her own relationship with Samuel Romy’s life begins to spiral further as she becomes increasingly drawn into her affair with the young intern.
Sex scenes largely find their impact after the fact in the ensuing dramas. They may be necessary for the narrative and relationship, and indeed the overall film that writer-director Halina Reijn is going for – and again they’ll likely be what creates something of a divided audience – but sometimes they feel split from the rest of the film as to who they’re aimed for. Perhaps because of the fact that the more they appear the more the dramatic effect appears in subsequent scenes and the focus of these moments almost solely becomes the erotic side of the erotic thriller. As a whole there’s still a generally consistent film unfolding, but one that on reflection is busier than it initially seems. It means that the best moments of drama don’t get enough room to breathe and fully develop, meaning that the various layers of power within the relationships at hand don’t feel fully explored with the film as a whole inevitably missing out on expanding its best ideas and moments.
With multiple dramas following on from the various intimate scenes there’s a busy and overlong film in Babygirl, led by Nicole Kidman on bold form the film is at its best, and most dramatically intense, when directly looking into the power dynamics within each relationship.
Just A Little Bit Random 