We might be on the precipice of a new golden age of the erotic thriller. With more and more female directors working today, we can finally get versions of this film from a new perspective, not just a leering violent one. Nicole Kidman and Halina Reijn start the ride with Babygirl, the feel hot movie of the year. I mean, wouldn’t you feel hot if a smokeshow like Harrison Dickinson showed up at your corporate high rise, even with his Triangle of Sadness?
At first glance, CEO Romy Mathis (Nicole Kidman) has it all. She’s got an incredible job with a great on the rise assistant, Esme (Sophie Wilde). Her husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas) is a sexy successful playwright and fantastic dad, and her kids teenage Isabel (Esther McGregor) and younger daughter Nora (Vaughan Reilly) make up the perfect family living in beautiful houses in the suburbs of a big city. But Romy almost throws it all away when she’s almost attacked by a dog, and an intern, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), stops the animal dead in its tracks, rendering Romy instantly smitten with this demure underling.
Like most erotic thrillers, Babygirl is best during the illicit courtship. Sexual and office politics become landmines to navigate for Romy, who not only has to keep this affair secret but also figure out what exactly about Samuel is turning her on. The movie establishes very early that despite her perfect life she’s unsatisfied in her sexual desires, and something about this boy ignites a spark inside of her. The term kink didn’t really exist in mainstream bedrooms for a while now, but Halina Reijn takes us down the rabbit hole of how a woman figures out what their kink might be, in a way that doesn’t feel like we’re exploiting Romy like previous erotic thrillers might have. The highs and lows of their dalliance keep the tension high, as we feel the euphoria of Romy’s pure pleasure but also are wary of these little power plays Samuel makes as the affair goes on, unsure what he’s angling for. Babygirl eventually runs out of steam by its ending, but the buildup is so captivating that I didn’t mind the quasi fantasy element of banging the hot guy.
Even though I laughed a lot at Nicole Kidman welcoming me to AMC to watch herself on the big screen, all of her tall regal nature is again baring it all. Kidman’s fearless here, somehow pulling off the juxtaposition of a power broker in life wanting the exact opposite of that experience in bed. You feel the innate fight within herself as she struggles to balance her life with this new exciting wrinkle she knows can never really end well. Kidman makes those highs feel like something rare that might never happen again, and completely sells out making us believe she might throw it all away for those incredible feelings. Harris Dickinson as her boy toy does what an erotic thriller needs him to do. He’s purposefully obtuse and unreadable, shapeshifting scene to scene. But just when he feels like a walking plot device, we get enough little insights into his inner world that he latches on to to help Samuel elevate just above archetype.
So, feeling frisky this holiday season? Harrison Dickinson is here to call Nicole Kidman, and basically you, Babygirl, if you want him to. And if you’re one of those “see a movie on Christmas” families, I beg you to see this one, if not for the really awkward conversations it will create amongst you and your parents/kids. We come to this place…for magic.