“Babygirl” is Halina Reijn’s latest exploration of the limits of social boundaries. We may have gotten lots of gore in “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” but here we are getting a good view of bodies of a different sort and the answer to the age-old question, “How much sexual tension can there be in an internship orientation?”
As Romy Mathis, Nicole Kidman is a calculated and powerful CEO of a warehouse automation company. Despite having Jacob (Antonio Banderas, AARP’s sexiest family man) at home, she can only fake her way to orgasmic completion. She must slink away to pleasure herself post-lovemaking to some domination vids on YouPorn. Her secret yearning is emblematic of the kind of woman Romy has- on the surface, perfectly satisfied and put together, but deep down, yearning for more.
It is into this void that the casually confident and dominant new intern Samuel (Harris Dickinson) slides. We again see Harris using his good looks and babyface to be the object of desire as we did in “Triangle of Sadness,” but in this version, Dickinson’s Samuel seems perfectly in control and aware. After some playful banter, it is clear that Samuel is just the stern hand Romy has been looking for. As for why, we only get glances back to Romy’s childhood in a commune to explain her search for dominance, but with Samuel, we get nothing- perhaps all the better to preserve the mystery Romy is enjoying.
Our previosuly unsatisfied CEO soon finds herself juggling her steamy affair with the younger Samuel, her company, which seems simultaneously successful and struggling, her teenage children, her seemingly perfect husband, and the center cannot hold.
The degree to which the power dynamics of the female CEO and the confidence of a young, relatively less powerful man stretch believability to the brink but are brought just back from the edge by the acting skills of Dickinson. It is hard for a man to appear dominant, tender, and wise all at the same time, especially across the room from an experienced actor like Kidman, but Dickinson’s ability to do this saves the film’s premise. He’s never a threat except that which Romy has brought upon herself, and most importantly, never a creep.
If anything is to be said about Romy and Samuel’s relationship, it is that it is complicated. It is complicated by power, the age gap, and all that Romy has to lose. Some outstanding scenes feature the two leads communicating and navigating those complexities, elements that invest in and respect the audience’s maturity.
What we are supposed to take away is where the film itself gets confusing. Here, we have an influential person, albeit female, who may be using her power and influence to gain personal sexual gratification. All inclinations are that Samuel is game, but the nature of power consensuality is often less cold-cut. Even if the two lovebirds consent to the nines and establish office/bed boundaries, they are still wrapped in dishonesty and secrecy. Much of the fun of this movie is unpacking whether Romy is a merciless job-killing robot like her company sells or a flesh and blood woman in need of release. She may be finding out for herself.
“Babygirl” is a brilliant erotic thriller that may be a little soft on character development but is hard where it counts.