Babygirl (dir. Halina Reijn)

By: Adam Freed

Behold the long overdue return of the erotic thriller.  Once a consistently bankable subgenre that produced steamy runaway hits like Body Heat (1981), Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992) has since cooled significantly.  The 21st Century has muted audience appetites for bold sexuality and the requisite peril that comes with it.  This prudish trend seems to have met its stopping point in the form of Halina Reijn’s incendiary Babygirl.  The Dutch director is no stranger to pushing boundaries, as is evidenced by her maniacal Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022).  With Babygirl, Reijn explores interesting new thematic ground in which she investigates the pendulum swing of interwoven power dynamics as they transcend corporate America, and bleed into family and marital strife.  Babygirl presents its central figure Romy, played to dizzying impact by Nicole Kidman, with the unthinkable conundrum of someone who has achieved everything they have ever wanted in the form a beautiful family, doting husband, career success and financial freedom, only to feel that there is an unspeakable repressed itch she cannot scratch. The powerful tech CEO flings herself headlong into a sexual game of Russian roulette when she meets a 24 year old intern by the name of Samuel.

Babygirl elevates itself as it willfully cleaves open the invisible barrier that separates morality and innermost desire.  This is no small feat, and it is achieved to perfection behind the undeniable performance of Nicole Kidman (The Hours, Lion).  The 57 year old Kidman exquisitely performs the invisible balancing act of wearing the insecurities of age while maintaining an undeniable allure, a carnal cocktail of equal parts raw human sexuality and the mystique of power gained by Romy’s apex position on the corporate ladder. Kidman’s character is a walking duality as she makes breakfast for her children wearing a WWII era housewife’s apron over the top of a $2000 designer wardrobe.  Equally of note is the juxtaposition of the family’s two homes.  The first of which is an exquisitely modern condo looming high above New York’s unmistakable skyline, the other a rustic country estate trapped in a bygone era of old monied gender dynamics.  Pinning down exactly who Romy is, presents a challenge, but her power over her husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas) and every other man in her life is unquestionable. Armed with this gravitational strength, Romy’s initial meeting with corporate intern Samuel plants the seed for what the impatient may misconstrue as a lazily manufactured gender swap of ancient corporate harassment dynamics.  Instead Reijin’s brilliantly scripted thriller works tirelessly to wrong-foot audiences who may assume that those who are bolstered by power and wealth would never willingly forfeit such advantages to a partner inferior to them across all corporate metrics.  These assumptions must all be cast asunder though as Harris Dickinson (The Iron Claw, Triangle of Sadness) transforms what could’ve been an attractive one note character into one whose clean cut rugged allure masks a sensual strength at the core of his young character.  Babygirl is as much a story about power as it is sexual exploration and exploitation.  

The palpable tension that grows between Romy and Samuel as they wade deeper into murky immoral waters veils the truth of what it is they are hoping to achieve.  One of the more deliberate choices made in the erotic thriller, takes shape in the name of Romy’s robotics company, Tensile.  Tensile strength is the process through which materials are tested to calculate their precise breaking point.  In many ways Babygirl feels like a tensile theatrical experiment in which audiences are stretched to find the limit of their  comfortability in a room full of strangers.  This intentional provocation is a welcome return to a bygone era of film that didn’t apologize for pushing the buttons of the consenting adults who purchase tickets to stretch their comfort zones.  Ultimately, director Halina Reijn has masterfully crafted Babygirl into what should mark the triumphant return of the erotic thriller.  

Target Score 8/10: Babygirl is a sizzling erotic thriller for the 21st century.  One in which conventional power structures are toppled only to be replaced by the perilous dynamic found between the powerful and powerless.  Twin dynamic performances by the timeless Nicole Kidman and undeniably appealing Harris Dickinson elevate director Halina Reijn’s film into the realm of a recent cult classic.