Review: In Babygirl, Nicole Kidman not only gets what she wants, she gets what she needs | Canada Voices

Babygirl

Written and directed by Halina Reijn

Starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson

Classification 18A; 114 minutes

Opens in theatres Dec. 25

Critic’s Pick

Babygirl is not about sex. There’s a generous amount of sex in it, to which star Nicole Kidman commits fiercely. But it’s really about desire, and Dutch writer-director Halina Reijn (Bodies Bodies Bodies) understands the difference.

Romy (Kidman) is having it all because she’s doing it all: CEO of a tech company, mentor to her co-worker Esme (Sophie Wilde), attentive mother of two daughters, all perfectly packaged with bow blouses, Botox and cold plunges. Inwardly, however, she aches with desires she can’t express to her feminist husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas, excellent), which include sneaking off to masturbate to daddy porn. Enter Samuel (Harris Dickinson, Triangle of Sadness), a brazenly confident, much younger intern at her company, who sees into her. Let the games begin.

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Unlike the erotic thrillers I grew up on, which were directed by men (9 ½ Weeks, Basic Instinct et al.), Reijn understands that women want to dominate and to submit. The film’s title is a cheeky play on that: Samuel calls Romy “Babygirl,” but he, too, is a babygirl – TikTok slang for a pretty young man, à la Timothée Chalamet or Harry Styles. And unlike the risible Fifty Shades trilogy, Reijn’s characters know they’re trying on these roles – that things might be awkward and funny before they get hot. Kidman and Dickinson, who have intense chemistry, clearly trust their story and director, and are willing to, as Romy says, “do anything you want me to do.” (Watch for the scene in which Samuel dances, shirtless, to George Michael’s Father Figure.)

What deepens this film is Reijn’s empathy for Romy and for all women. How exhausting our pursuit of perfection is. How, sometimes, it feels that the only way out is to blow it all up. And mainly, how we fantasize about things we’ve been taught to be ashamed of. Admitting that is a thrill all its own. Whoever came up with the poster – Kidman, looking up at Dickinson, under the tagline, “This Christmas, get exactly what you want” – deserves a promotion.

Special to The Globe and Mail