Shadows on the Wall

Babygirl

dir-scr Halina Reijn
prd David Hinojosa, Julia Oh, Halina Reijn
with Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas, Sophie Wilde, Esther McGregor, Vaughan Reilly, Victor Slezak, Leslie Silva, Gaite Jansen, Robert Farrior, Bartley Booz, Gabrielle Policano
release US 25.Dec.24,
UK 10.Jan.25
24/US A24 1h54

VENICE FILM FEST
TORONTO FILM FEST

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Refreshingly unapologetic about sexuality, this stylish drama by Halina Reijn demands an unusual rawness from its cast, most notably Nicole Kidman as a woman distracted by her kinkier yearnings. While it deliberately provokes us, the film is astonishingly earthy and real, even in its more outrageous moments. And it has a lot to say about the way we try to manage what we think we want out of life.

Robotics company founder Romy (Kidman) is a high-flying executive who also has a lively home life with her amorous theatre director husband Jacob (Banderas) and two teen daughters (McGregor and Reilly). But she's intrigued by her smart, sexy new office intern Samuel (Dickinson). While he seems to be playing, this becoming an obsession for Romy, complicated by the way he calls her bluff and flips her sense of control on its head. Then as their encounters turn increasingly steamy, Romy struggles to define their relationship. But she definitely likes being told what to do.

Opening scenes set up Romy's sexual frustration, as she's unsatisfied by Jacob. She's also hugely invested in anti-ageing treatments that her kids tease her about. Reijn's direction skilfully dives into Romy's perspective, allowing the audience to feel her most startling impulses, including how she can't admit that she likes the way Samuel pushes her. Even the lighter games she plays with him are often jaw-dropping in their intensity.

Driving fully into the role, Kidman makes Romy stunningly complex, powerful and fragile at the same time. Her journey is riveting, even when we feel uneasy about it, simply because Kidman is so bracingly honest. "Look at me," she says to Jacob. "I'm not normal." And Dickinson is terrific as a young man who fully understands his power, seeing what she wants from him and improvising an approach he thinks she needs. This makes Samuel dangerous, but never villainous, mainly because he sees how much she needs this. And in a key scene, Banderas brings his own powerful energy.

Reijn's script refuses to flinch from the subject matter, which means that the awkward conversations are even more staggering than the sex scenes. As a result, the characters are fascinatingly difficult to pigeonhole, and all of them are sympathetic, even when we squirm while watching them. This is a rare movie that explores how each of us contains multitudes of desires that even we may never understand.

themes, language, sexuality 1.Dec.24

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