‘Babygirl’ review: ambiguous erotic drama sandwiched between two different orgasms

Director: Halina Reijn | Script: Halina Reijn | Cast: Nicole Kidman (Romy Mathis), Harris Dickinson (Samuel), Antonio Banderas (Jacob Mathis), Sophie Wilde (Esme), Gaite Jansen (Hedda Scarlett), Victor Slezak (Mr. Missel), ea | Playing time: 114 minutes | Year: 2024

With her third film as a director, actress Halina Reijn is aiming high. He makes Nicole Kidman do things that no other filmmaker has done before her, not even Stanley Kubrick. At the same time, it puts a playful spin on the classic theme of the adulteress. It maliciously perverts the theme through apparent paradoxes, perverted situations and atypical characters. Reijn does it with the necessary satirical humor, which makes the ending seem less serious. The feminist undertone also seems too emphatic.

Romy Mathis did it. She is the CEO of a company specializing in AI and robotics and her marriage to director Jacob has lasted for years. But one day, in a moment of anxiety, she meets Samuel, who is in his twenties. You will later see this in your company as an intern. Samuel adopts a brutal, confrontational and transgressive attitude towards Romy; to such an extent that he completely loses his balance. Samuel continues to challenge her and Romy finally agrees. You are in danger of having to pay a high price for a mistake that turns into much more than that.

At first glance, the fine story is not very original. But in its details and proposed thesis it does say relatively new things. However, the film still seems like a work with many echoes, of which Halina Reijn is undoubtedly aware. The film is completely in line with her directorial debut. Instinct. His latest seems like a variation on that movie’s theme. But also Eyes wide closed It takes center stage due to the presence of Nicole Kidman, the Christmas atmosphere and the gender change of the protagonist of that Kubrick classic.

If you consider Samuel an outsider, there are also similarities with The killing of a sacred deer – also with Kidman. And for those who want, they can little girl Look at him as a modern version of David Leans. Brief Encounter with elements off Secretary, fatal attraction in Divulgation. However, Reijn’s film is the closest to Hedda Gabler, Henrik Ibsen’s work that occupies an important place in his career. One of the characters is even called Hedda. But her last name is Scarlett, which may be a nod to Nataniel Hawtorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Another story about an adulteress.

Those layers, without being very explicit in the film, certainly make Reijn’s third work as a filmmaker stronger than Instinct. These echoes underline – or raise awareness of – a perversion of the theme of the woman who begins an affair. Romy is no Anna Karenina or Hedda Gabler, but she undergoes a similar evolution. She becomes completely angry at the young man who quickly notices her. But Romy occupies a dominant position as CEO. In her subconscious she wants that… temporarily? – no and give yourself completely in exchange for sexual satisfaction.

That little girl What sets it apart from those other adultery dramas, written by men, is Reijn’s rather emphatic feminist agenda. You can certainly question that. Reijn’s claim is that you must have the courage to seek out danger in order to better emerge from it. However, Samuel is a manipulative predator. Romy puts her destiny in his hands and that can go terribly wrong. He could easily destroy your career and your marriage, which may be his intention. Samuel plays with Romy like a cat with a mouse. Will it attack at some point?

But Reijns Romy is a very strong, modern woman who ultimately wants to profit from her adventure. So she couldn’t end up like Diane Keaton. Finding Mr. Goodbar nor like Hedda Gabler, Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary. That’s certainly a positive, but the way the movie ends is much less ambiguous, naughtier, and funnier than anything that came before. This certainly fits within modern feminism, but it could have been more subtle and surprising. less in Brief Encounter-mode.