There are few film stars who’ve been as prolific as Nicole Kidman.
In truth, the Australian star of “Babygirl” – the slick erotic thriller by Dutch filmmaker Halina Reijn now in theaters – has been so busy in recent times (23 movies within the final decade, and that’s not even counting her tv work or her gig as celeb spokesmodel for the AMC Theater chain) that it’s turn into a operating gag within the well-liked dialog. It even emerged as a punch line for Golden Globes host Nikki Glaser earlier this month.
Make no mistake, although, there’s a motive for her continued presence as one in every of Hollywood’s most dear gamers, and “Babygirl,” which pushes her to exhibit the form of vulnerability not often even anticipated of performers half her age, is ample proof of that.
Within the movie, Kidman stars as Romy Mathis, the CEO of a New York tech firm – an Amazon-style buying hub the place order success is dealt with completely by way of robotics – whose marriage to a famend theater director (Antonio Banderas) works in every single place however within the bed room. When Samuel (Harris Dickinson), a much-younger new male intern on the firm to whom she is already attracted, requests her as his mentor as a part of an organization management program, she finds herself drawn into an affair, fueled by the Dom/sub sexual dynamic of her fantasies, which compromises her place of energy within the firm nearly as a lot because it satisfies the unmet wants of her private life. It’s a self-described thriller, so for sure, issues begin to spin uncontrolled when Samuel exhibits up unannounced at her house in the course of a household gathering – however the rising hazard solely serves to attract her deeper right into a state of affairs which, by any typical normal, represents a extremely inappropriate breach of conduct, at greatest.
Influenced noticeably by movies from the pre-“MeToo”-era coping with the mixing of sexual {and professional} energy dynamics (each “Indecent Proposal” and “Fundamental Intuition” have been cited by Reijn as inspiration) and marked by an aloof, nearly documentarian perspective that contrasts with the boundary-pushing provocation of its intimate scenes in a method that distances us from the moral quandaries of its central relationship, it’s a film that each invitations us and challenges us. Investing us within the expertise of a girl who has overwhelmed the percentages to search out success whereas resigning herself to an unsatisfactory intercourse life with an in any other case completely matched husband, it asks us to empathize and even root for Romy as she negotiates the thorny path towards an erotic self-actualization that matches her skilled one, regardless of the sturdy societal present that may model each resolution she makes alongside the best way as poisonous. It’s this battle between what’s “proper” and what serves our deepest instinctual wants that offers “Babygirl” its edgy energy, way over its scenes of fetish-driven intimacy – which, whereas they crackle with the form of sexual rigidity that’s usually missing within the scenes of “socially endorsed” intimacy introduced in mainstream cinema, are undeniably tame in contrast with what might be discovered within the extra transgressive milieu of underground cinema – and rattles our sense of (for lack of a greater phrase) “decency.”
This mentioned, the scenes by which Kidman – who fearlessly embraces the problem of being an A-list celebrity (of a “sure age”) in a task that hinges not simply on her sexual viability, however the willingness with which she permits her physique to be introduced for scrutiny – surrenders herself to the irresistible draw of her forbidden younger lover are nonetheless searing examples of uncooked cinematic expression. That is definitely a operate of her full dedication to the position, and her capacity to search out the correct mix of self-awareness and self-abandon that convinces us of their authenticity. However it’s equally because of the smouldering charisma and adroitly balanced persona of Dickinson’s Samuel, who overcomes the pure mistrust that inherently accompanies his position (as a male subordinate seemingly exploiting his feminine superior’s vulnerability) to win a palpable measure of respect – if not our full sympathies – by way of an nearly preternatural sense of self-confidence and a form of darkish sincerity that renders the mutually exploitative nature of their relationship nearly irrelevant in our visceral response to it.
Earlier than anybody questions the load with which we take into account the film’s intercourse scenes, it’s vital to convey that “Babygirl” is most decidedly a movie about sexual politics, and, regardless of the complimentary juxtaposition it offers with office tradition, it’s there the place it hits its deepest and most resonant chords in our collective psyche. The pressured strictures of our societal roles take a again seat to the uncooked and untamed urgency of our most intimate needs, and even the sacrosanct bond of marital dedication is honest recreation in relation to fulfilling the fantasies that one way or the other make us really feel extra wholly ourselves, regardless – and certainly, usually due to – any taboos that may in any other case discourage us from exploring them.
In an period when the “guidelines” round intercourse one way or the other really feel each much less and extra stringent than ever, such an strategy feels significantly transgressive. Certainly, the implication than a bootleg workplace affair may be something aside from an HR nightmare would possibly effectively look like a radical notion even to these with a more-or-less permissive stance on issues of private morality, in any period. But “Babygirl” negotiates these harmful curves with wickedly seductive finesse, providing up a steamy portrait of illicit-yet-irresistible sexual journey that in the end feels much less like a cautionary story – regardless of the inevitable private {and professional} penalties that threaten to shatter Romy’s idealized “Lady Boss” life as her affair with Samuel grows increasingly out of her management – than a taboo-smashing story of private liberation and progress past typical mores.
Delivered with out overt judgment by way of Reijn’s observational therapy, it’s a film that efficiently conveys the attract of “kinky” sexual roleplay way more convincingly than “Fifty Shades of Grey” – thanks in no small half to Dickinson, whose breathtakingly opaque efficiency renders Samuel with equal elements searing charisma and chilling menace, and whose Might/September chemistry with Kidman just isn’t solely convincing however undeniably sizzling.
It’s her movie, nevertheless, and it’s her efficiency, which captures an emotional nakedness way more brave than that required by baring her perfect-for-any-age physique, that offers “Babygirl” the depth that makes it greater than only a topical story of sexual politics within the office. Certainly, the workplace intrigue that surrounds the affair appears nearly an afterthought, a handy “McGuffin” to attract us right into a story that’s actually about one thing way more attention-grabbing.
Whereas the film doesn’t all the time land completely – significantly in its therapy of Romy’s marriage, which feels vaguely perfunctory and leaves Banderas with little room to discover the nuances that may make his character greater than a cipher – it’s nonetheless a deliciously provocative, visually fashionable piece of boldly countercultural filmmaking, that dares to recommend that the trail to private progress generally lies by way of kinky, forbidden intercourse.
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