‘You’re confusing ambition with morality. They’re different things...’
What’s this? An erotic thriller? Are we in the ’80s? It would appear not. A modern-day erotic thriller. I’ve got a lot of time for that. I love the melodramatic hysteria of films such as Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct, and Dutch writer-director Halina Reijn loves them too – so much so that Babygirl is a direct homage to the films of Paul Verhoeven and Adrian Lyne. The problem is that it’s nowhere near as good as the films that it is ripping off…
When high-powered CEO Romy Mathis (Nicole Kidman) begins an affair with Samuel (Harris Dickinson), her much younger intern, it has profound consequences on her life both in and out of the office. Antonio Banderas delivers a strong performance as Romy’s bewildered husband.
This is Reijn’s second English-language film for A24 after 2022’s excellent Bodies Bodies Bodies, and where that film was propulsive and innovative, Babygirl is too often meandering and derivative. Kidman is as captivating as ever, but Dickinson struggles (not helped by some inconsistent writing), and the two of them together never really sell the supposed transgressiveness of their affair. They also don’t do enough to make me care about the fate of the characters.
Babygirl successfully leans into the ‘erotic’ part of the erotic thriller label, but it neglects the ‘thriller’ part. Despite some memorable moments along the way, and an excellent performance from Kidman, Babygirl is forgettable where it should be bombastic – a disappointment considering the talent involved.
