Nicole Kidmanhas the name, career legacy, and cash to relax into easy roles that don’t ask much of her except to show up and be famous. Instead, she has continued chasing parts that push her capabilities and draw out fresh, incredible performances, and her turn in Babygirl at the end of 2024 is a continuation of that pattern.
Kidman stars as a sexually repressed businesswoman who, despite a loving and sexual active relationship with her husband, does not feel fulfilled. This leads her to begin a sexually submissive fetishised relationship with one of her interns, played by Harris Dickinson.
The movie enjoyed solid reviews, but had mixed reactions from the general public. Since arriving onHBO Max, however, it has enjoyed a surge of popularity - a lot of people are curious these days, after all.
Babygirl Is About Its People, Not Its Play
Since Babygirl’s arrival on HBO Max on Friday, it has been in the top five across the entirety of streaming, with only one HBO Max movie (Companion, starring Sophie Thatcher) ahead of it in the rankings. Fans have been turning out to see Kidman’s performance, with even the weaker reviews specifically praising the humanity and risk she brought to the role.
Though not quiteas boundary pushing as something like Babylon, Babygirl does not seek to make a spectacle of the sex at its centre. This is a grounded, psychological character study of a woman with power who does not feel satisfied by her life, and begins to take risk.
While it does feature scenes that explore the dynamics and play at the core of its subject matter, like Kidman eating treats from her master’s hand like a dog, or being called a “good girl” when she drinks a glass of milk he secretly sends to her table while out with friends, director Halina Reijn (Bodies Bodies Bodies) explores the human story behind the sex.
John Paul King of the Washington Bladecalled it “a deliciously provocative, visually stylish piece of boldly countercultural filmmaking”, whileJourdain Seales for the Los Angeles Review of Bookslinks it back to Kidman’s earlier career, writing “American cinema has always had a prudish approach to sexuality on-screen, linking kinks with villainy and mental instability. But Kidman has long gravitated toward sexual characters, and Babygirl is an ideal showcase for her fearless physicality.”
However, the contrasting views on whether Babygirl really is any good or particularly transgressive is best summed up byWenlei Ma for The Nightly: “Babygirl wants to be challenging and incendiary, and it could’ve been all those things if it had a clearer through-line of what it’s really trying to say.”
