Babygirl Movie: Reasons to Watch Nicole Kidman’s Erotic Thriller
Here in this article, we are going to talk about Nicole Kidman’s new Babygirl movie. Nicole Kidman wanted to do Babygirl ever since he first read the script (or that’s what he said to Zendaya in his Variety Actors on Actors session), and it’s easy to understand why from the first few minutes of the movie. Directed by Halina Reijn (Bodies Bodies Bodies), Babygirl is like entering the sexual fantasies of a stranger, where there is a very interesting contrast to the image that is presented to the world, and what is inside that person, and that person is nothing more and nothing less than Nicole Kidman, or the character he plays in this movie that puts the most common stereotypes of Erotic Thriller’s head.
Kidman, plays Romy Mathis, a CEO who is also a mother of a family and manages to take care of her appearance, dress perfectly, prepare her daughters’ breakfast, take care of her husband, and even leave motivating messages in their backpacks before going to the office, where she must show herself as a strong and hard woman to fit into a world made up mostly of men. Romy is a kind of ice queen, but inside she hides prohibited emotions and desires that she believes not everyone can understand, and these explode when she meets a new intern in her office, who from the first moment seems to know what it is that wants. This encounter brings Romy into a relationship with enormous potential for destruction.
Babygirl Movie: Is It Worth Seeing Babygirl?
The Return of the Erotic Thriller
The gender of Erotic Thriller He experienced a Boom in the 80s and 90s with films such as Fatal Attraction, Instinct Bass, and Blue Velvet, but little by little the genre was losing popularity, and the issue of censorship made it, for a moment, disappear almost completely, or at least not seen in good quality cinema. But erotic thrillers have been back for a few years now, and now the traditional formula is broken, and other stories and characters are starring. Here, Kidman returns to a genre that was important in his career in the past (with movies like Malicia and Eyes Wide Shut), with a character who has a very different role than he would have had in the 90s. We see her as a powerful woman and used to being in control, but who needs an escape and has the fantasy of being subdued.
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman is one of the great actresses, she has done it all, and every project that all turns to gold (except for a few, like Bewitched) and here we see her being vulnerable and taking risks that, for many, can be too scary. The chemistry between her and Harris Dickinson, his fantasy partner, is evident, but there is a certain toxicity that permeates everything, and that prevents this from becoming a story that tries to slow down things like infidelity, toxic relationships, and abuse. Kidman shines, this role is perfect for her, and the most interesting thing is that she dares to be disastrous and chaotic when the paper demands it. Dickinson, as always, is building a new type of “leading man”, which here highlights many of the qualities of a narcissistic person.
The Contrast Between Harris Dickinson and Antonio Banderas!
There are two important male figures in this movie, one is Antoni Banderas, who plays the husband of Romy, a man who is connected to his emotions, who takes care of his family and values the opinion of his wife, and the other we have Harris Dickinson, the intern who begins a relationship with his boss and turns the dynamics of power and control, behaving dominantly and violently. Through them, we can question not only what consent means, but also what masculinity means and the way it has changed, and not, over time. One of them presents himself as a man who seems to be strong, but it is the other who really is, and Babygirl is also on a journey to discover that.
An Exploration of Fantasies
We all have fantasies, some we share, and others we keep to ourselves, because we think, like Romy, that no one is going to understand them, or that they could make others think that there is something wrong with us. Babygirl talks about sexual desire, about what we need to feel satisfied, and about the fears and insecurities we can feel when we don’t fit into the concept of “normality”. Seeing Romy can be liberating, although there are also many things to question and that we delay thinking and the dynamics between her and her intern.
Power Games to Think!
Can there be real consent when there is a power game involved? Babygirl wonders about that and explores the different ways to have power and manipulate it to get what we want. This is not a story of romance or love, it is a story of toxicity in its different forms, abuse of power and psychological manipulation, and how power is also a tool of control in relationships. Babygirl shows this dynamic within the context of a millionaire company, where the consequences and risks are higher, and therefore the danger is greater.
Babygirl can be read ironically as a Basic instinct or Elle, that is, a minor Verhoeven, or plain and simple as the account of a torrid romance in the most luxurious Manhattan, a Fifty Shades of Gray for sophisticated tad viewers, a female key rereading of Fatal attraction. That makes the experience of seeing Babygirl be, on the one hand, absolutely enjoyable, as fun as the also skinned Secrets of a scandal, and on the other, something restless. Why? Because it makes the viewer constantly question what moral position, he should take regarding what he is seeing on screen.
And is that Babygirl, deep down, talks about topics as thorny as burning as sexual consent and abuse of power. But, of course, reversing the roles, adds more confusion to the viewing when it is the woman who takes advantage of her status as boss to sleep with a subordinate. Well seen, all roles end up being invested in Babygirl: Romy’s teenage daughter ends up acting as an adult in the relationship between the two, worried about the riot (curious word full of meaning) of her parent. In the company, his masochistic fantasies end up giving power to his subordinates. Of course, Samuel, because this is how his dominator and dominated relationship. But also to his second played by Sophie Wilde, who verbalizes one of the film’s underlying themes, how a woman should exercise power.
New proof that the wake surge is coming to an end in America, Babygirl not only does he go over these issues without value judgments, but he puts his enjoyable attitude ahead with Petardeo Hymns like Dancing on My Own, from Robyn or Father Figure, of George Michael, soundtrack of one of the most tacky sex scenes in the movie (there’s another worse one), only comparable to the video clip for this eighties song. “Female masochistic fantasies are a masculine invention”, says at one point the character of Antonio Banderas, a theater director incapable of deciphering the woman with whom he has lived for several decades and who continues to be an enigma to him. You may be right and there will be someone leaving the movie theater wondering if Babygirl does not perpetuate, as it also does The Substance, of that male look.
On the other hand, it is as liberating to see a female character as Nicole Kidman occupying at ease the almost two hours of footage of Babygirl, misbehaving, very badly. Being a bad mother and a bad wife, a bad partner and a bad boss, making mistakes, failing. Also confessing that she has never experienced an orgasm in her zillions of years. More than 40 years ago we saw Lola Herrera do the same in the Night function, of Josefina Molina, but where there were tears and suffering here, at least, there is also forgetfulness and joy.
