BABYGIRL - Mark Reviews Movies

Babygirl, A24

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Review by Mark Dujsik | December 24, 2024

Ultimately, Babygirl is a big tease—an apparent psychological study and erotic pseudo-thriller about sex and power that eventually reveals itself to be little more than a slightly kinky melodrama. It's tough to call the early bits sexy, since writer/director Halina Reijn takes the main character so seriously, and when the sex does arrive, it feels milquetoast.

Our protagonist is Romy (Nicole Kidman), the CEO of a tech company that's developing tools for automating the workforce and delving into A.I. (None of this matters to the story, but it sure does make it seem relevant, huh?). We first meet Romy having sex with her husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas), and when they both seem to finish in a satisfying way, she excuses herself, rushes to her home office, and finishes the job while watching some porn on her laptop.

The movie eventually lets us know that the couple has been together for almost two decades, and apparently, the subject of her sexual dissatisfaction in the marriage has never arisen. It's not a good sign that the entire plot becomes one of those conflicts that could easily be resolved with a simple, if uncomfortable, conversation, and it's definitely not a good sign that Reijn has Romy start that conversation in the first act, only for a little awkwardness to apparently be more difficult for the character to bear than almost ruining her life and career.

The potential ruin comes in the person of Samuel (Harris Dickinson), a young man whom Romy meets by chance on the walk to work, with him calling off a loose dog that almost attacks her, and soon discovers is an incoming intern at her company. The whole setup is so convenient and contrived that we almost expect there to be some revelation about this meet-not-so-cute, but no, this is just the way we're expected to accept that they meet and become fascinated with each other.

Reijn's immediate establishment of Romy is intriguing. Here's a woman who aspires to and possesses a lot of power, but in her secret fantasies and deepest desires, she wants to relinquish that power (Her post-coital viewing features the sound of spanking). She's a walking contradiction, basically, and somehow, Samuel, who gets a kick out of taking control over situations and other people, spots that in Romy instantly. He begins flirting with her in increasingly overt and workplace unfriendly ways, and despite her mild scoldings and outright refusals of his advances, she begins spending more time with him and following his not-so-subtle suggestions.

They begin an affair, of course, although the way the two play and toy with each other in the build-up to something physical happening is more enticing than the payoff. The back-and-forth of these characters, as Romy tries to hide how she's allured to the young man behind an air of professionalism and Samuel steps up the line of saying what he wants, has a lot of tension behind it. Kidman and Dickinson perform this little dance convincingly, but once sex enters the picture, Reijn appears to stop trying to convince us that there's anything more to it.

Yes, Romy has issues, as she repeatedly says to anyone she trusts enough to hear about them. She was raised in a series of communes and cults, apparently, but as for what that has to do with her hidden desire to be controlled when it comes to sex, that's anyone's guess. We just have to accept it, but after a potentially tantalizing scene—undone by some odd staging—in a hotel room where Samuel does take control over her pleasure (and only her pleasure, by the way), the two just start a pretty standard affair.

The power dynamic becomes less about sex and more about Samuel having the ability to destroy Romy's career and/or marriage. The tension is lessened by this move, not only because Samuel—existing as a threatening but alluring object of sorts for Romy—is such a mystery in his background and motive and actions, but also because the story now just becomes about waiting for the other shoe to drop.

That Romy herself and her own motives aren't entirely clear (Does she want to be caught to prove a point, even if in her own mind, or is this just a little experiment that has gotten out of control?) isn't much help, either. Eventually, Samuel worms his way closer to Romy's assistant (played by Sophie Wilde), who looks up to her boss and wants to mostly—apart from the obvious—be like her, and her family, including her two daughters (played by Esther McGregor and Vaughn Reilly). She has to navigate those complications, too, while also juggling Samuel's shift toward the inevitable attitude and deeds of someone so focused on control.

In the end, all the sex-play and game-playing comes down to a final confrontation, which comes across as much as a lecture as a piece of drama, and one final punch line. It's mildly amusing, except that it solidifies the notion that the plot of Babygirl doesn't exist without its characters lacking even a basic degree of self-awareness, comprehension, and the capacity to have a single conversation.

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