Halina Reijn builds tension throughout Babygirl like foreplay as she brilliantly explores identity suppression, female desire, and exaltation. Nicole Kidman delivers one of her best performances yet as Harris Dickinson cements his superstardom. Hidden sexual fantasies and desires take center stage and Reijn delivers a masterclass in kink. 

Babygirl is not an erotic thriller as it feels as if the film is its own genre. It’s deeply sad as it explores the loneliness and shame its titular babygirl feels. It’s silly as the weirdness of opening up sexually to a new partner can be, especially with milk involved. It’s loving as you feel the deep admiration the married couple has for one another as well as their children. It’s scary as Romy (Nicole Kidman) comes to terms with she could be risking everything for pleasure. Halina Reijn felt inspired by legends in the erotic thriller genre, such as Paul Verhoeven and Adrian Lyne, but wanted to tell an erotic tale from her own point-of-view, most importantly, a female lens. 

Romy appears to have it all; she’s a powerful CEO, a mother, and a doting wife. The film opens with her having sex with her husband, Jacob (Antonio Banderas), which appears hot, until she quickly leaves the room and masturbates alone to porn featuring a girl with a baby voice calling a man ‘daddy’ until Romy can find her orgasm. You realize she ahd been faking with her husband, leading to the focus of the film, female pleasure. Babygirl blares through societal shame around female sexual fantasies by guiding us through Romy’s exploration of her own desires, but without judgment. It’s not that Romy wants to hide in the dark with her laptop, it’s that her husband doesn’t even notice she’s faking it and there’s a disconnect between her desires and her openness about them. Romy plays as much a part in their divide as her husband by continuously faking her orgasms and evading communication about the issue at hand. One of the unhealthiest aspects of a relationship, but especially a marriage, is a dishonest about your wants, needs, and desires. Reijn expertly crafts this relationship from the opening scene. Romy lives on day after day without making a change or communicating her issues with her husband. Babygirl isn’t focused on making an excuse of Romy going after he desires with another man because her husband is ignoring her, he just genuinely has no idea and part of that is at Romy’s own doing.

That is until she meets Samuel (Harris Dickinson), then she begins vivaciously yearning for change, she just doesn’t know exactly what it is. It’s clear to the audience what it is. Romy is in charge of a huge company, calling the shots all day, she’s a mother taking care of two children, and a caring wife reassuring her director husband he’s good at his job; Romy is simply always in control. She needs one place she’s not calling the shots; she needs to be taken. Reijn effortlessly explores how a woman can want to be dominated sexually without being a weak woman. Romy sees Samuel before she knows who he actually is. When a rabid dog runs towards her on the street outside her office, all the people on the street step back, but he steps forward. As he holds, strokes, and calms the dog, tells her she’s a good girl, Romy looks on, full of something she can’t place. When she finally meets him and learns he’s one of her interns, her mentee actually, they share a tense one on one. He’s unlike any of the other men in her life. He took it upon himself to have her as his mentor and set up weekly meetings. He interrupts her and asks her difficult questions she stumbles to answer; she’s not used to the way he keeps her on her toes. Their entire introduction to their relationship is set up as a cat and mouse game, a foreplay pacing that’s absolutely kinetic. Samuel offers her an assessment on her; he tells her she likes to be told what to do. She’s appalled yet transfixed. Reijn’s writing brilliantly never lets you know where each character thinks the situation is about to go and when they share their first kiss, it’s electric as they don’t know where they stand. The tension between them is palpable as they share glances, and Romy can’t help but watching him flirt with other girls in the office. At an employee night out, Samuel sends Romy a glass of milk, she eventually downs it, and when the night is over and she’s paying the bill, he seductively whispers, “good girl” into her ear, the same phrase he used to soothe that dog when she first saw him. Their dialogue at times is almost exactly like the porn she hungrily consumed to find her orgasm at the beginning; the tension between them until she finally gets a feel for what he can do is almost unbearable. 

Babygirl is a masterclass in character building as you truly never know what they want or will do next. It’s thrilling to watch as the stakes feel so high, yet anything could happen. Their entire affair it’s unclear what either Samuel or Romy want from one another or who is in charge. Romy repeatedly tells Samuel that she doesn’t want to hurt him, but he insists that he has power over her and could ruin her life in one call, which seems to both thrill and horrify her. Reijn perfectly illustrates that good sex is not simply about fantasy fulfillment and orgasm, but pleasure. Samuel isn’t the object of Romy’s desire but the vessel to explore her fantasies. Romy had been conditioned by society that her yearning for a dominant man was shameful. She’s a high-powered CEO, a mother, and a wife. She shouldn’t want to be dominated…is what she thinks. It’s all about the release of judgement and finding the pleasure free from shame. Her private life are almost entirely dominated by a fear of her desires, a shame she feels for her yearning to let go. Eventually, this is all doubled down on in a confrontation between Jacob, Samuel, and Romy. Jacob states that, “female masochism is a male fantasy,” yet Samuel refutes, “that’s a dated idea.” This one conversation between the two sexual partners in Romy’s life are the mirrors of how society views female pleasure. Furthering the need for a film such as Babygirl from a female filmmaker and especially as one as brave as Reijn.

Kidman has delivered brilliant, daring performances for decades (Birth, The Northman, Stoker) yet Babygirl feels like her most vulnerable and boldest performance in years. She’s audacious as Romy leaving nothing behind. She drinks milk from a saucer and eats candy from the palm of Dickinson’s hand while she’s on all fours. But it’s not the extreme sex scenes that are what makes her performance as Romy stand out, it’s the moments of Romy alone, attempting to reckon with her feelings. Romy could have so easily been a parody of a ‘girlboss CEO’ yet Kidman brings a conflicted fire to her. She’s exposed emotionally and physically in such a beautiful, raw way. Not many actors could hold their own against Kidman, yet Dickinson matches her beat for beat. He brings a tender cockiness to Samuel that slows him to be both commandeering and sensitive. It’s easy to see why Romy is drawn to him, not just physically, but how he’s tricky to figure out yet has a pull over you. You want him to want you. Dickinson and Kidman have a hypnotizing chemistry that feels almost otherworldly. The bond between them feels magnetic yet there’s a nervousness between them as they navigate this new relationship. Banderas is perfectly cast her as he’s been the object of sexual desire in so many films yet here, he is sidelined. He’s unaware of how to bring his wife to experience pleasure and fulfill her true desires. He brings a humanity to Jacob that allows you to understand where he’s at in their relationship and how they got to that point. 

Jaspar Wolf’s cinematography feels entirely intimate and is perfectly complemented by Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s breathy, erotic score to further immerse the audience in this sexually tense world. Reijn explores the age old, ‘what do women really want,’ under the lens of what society expects and allows women to want and the crew effortlessly hammers this home. Wolf’s cinematography heightens the secrecy and stakes of Samuel and Romy’s affair. The score washes over the audience in the necessary moments but knows when to fall into the background. 

Reijn builds tension throughout Babygirl like foreplay as she brilliantly explores identity suppression, female desire, and exaltation. Babygirl approaches erotic and sexual themes as a gateway to self exploration and discovery. Many will focus on the eroticism and how hot or horny the film is, but it’s much more than that. Reijn has an unwavering commitment to exploring female desire and fantasies on screen without judgement. Romy discovers things about herself that she was too scared to confront until she began to give into her desires, free from shame. Kidman delivers one of her best performances yet as Dickinson cements his superstardom. Decisions clouded by lust don’t always make sense and it’s what makes these characters so human, complex and imperfect. Hidden sexual fantasies and desires take center stage and Reijn delivers a masterclass in kink. 

Grade: A

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: Best Lead Actress (Nicole Kidman)
Should be Considered: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Harris Dickinson), Best Supporting Actor (Antonio Banderas), Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Original Song

Release Date: December 25, 2024
Where to Watch: In Theaters