BABYGIRL: MORE THAN SEX
How Nicole Kidman Tore Apart Misconceptions in Halina Reijn’s Hit Movie, Babygirl
By Fiona Dodwell
Please note this article explores themes and spoilers Babygirl.
When it was initially released, director Halina Reijn’s Babygirl made plenty of seductive headlines across the press — and it’s not surprising. The movie is brimming with sensual and erotically charged scenes, where characters played by Nicole Kidman and co-star Harris Dickinson embark on a kink-fuelled affair. I saw the film soon after release and other than plenty of sex, I was not quite sure what to expect in the two-hour flick. Kidman has certainly drawn in audiences throughout her career in the movie world, and for good reason. Her raw, charismatic and at times shocking transformations in film have been wowing audiences since her break into the entertainment world in the early 90's.
So with Nicole Kidman in the lead role of character Romy, and the promise of lots of sex embedded in the twisted, steamy drama, Babygirl was certain to capture the attention of cinema-goers, and that’s exactly what it did. Babygirl got people talking … and it hasn’t quite let go since.
If you haven’t seen it yet, Babygirl follows character Romy, who is married to Jacob (Antonio Banderas). Balancing a high-pressure career alongside family life, Romy soon finds herself attracted to a new, young, fresh-faced intern at her workplace. They soon embark on an illicit affair that brings an electric and raunchy punch to the screen, as well as a devastating blow to her home-life. It’s an exciting film, with themes that would be engaging to most cinema-goers, but Babygirl is much more than it first appears to be.
Nicole Kidman is no stranger to bringing sex, shattered relationships and raw intimacy to the big-screen (indeed it’s something she has done so exceptionally well that she’s become one of the world’s most loved actresses) but in Babygirl, her portrayal of Romy manages to explore female vulnerability as it smashes head-first into the world of desire. While on the face of it, Babygirl can be viewed as an enticing cocktail of forbidden desires and sex, it’s almost impossible to come away from the movie without feeling that director Halina Reijn was trying to tell us so much more — and she does, when you take a moment to strip away the layers.
Kidman’s character, Romy, is in a significant position of power and authority in her daily life. In her career as CEO of a hugely successful company, Romy faces daily the pressures and expectations of those around her. They want her time, her leadership, her energy. She is the archetypal “career woman” who has little to no time for anything else. Failure is not an option. It is with the arrival of Harris Dickinson’s character, Samuel, that Romy is finally able to surrender the weight she carries in her everyday life. Romy appears to be hungry to let go, to be vulnerable, to make space for intimacy in a world that she has, so far, been denied of. Where it is easy to simply see sex as the draw for Kidman’s character, (and that is obviously a big part of it) it soon becomes evident that Romy wants to be held, guided, looked-after, sheltered from the ever-present demands of her daily life.
Where she was once propped up by her own position of power, Romy wants to be disempowered. To finally let go. The irony, though, is that through the character’s journey in Babygirl, Romy’s power becomes genuienly shattered at every turn. Her affair with Samuel leaves her broken, it splinters her relationship with her own family and eventually puts even her career at risk. Everything Romy holds dear soon lies twisted, weak and broken. Her desire to set aside her power and be dominated came at a price.
By the end of Babygirl, with her entire life having been turned inside out, Romy soon finds herself where the film began: in bed, having sex with her husband. Only this time, things are very different. Romy is satisfied and able, finally, to have everything she wanted — without having to hand over everything to gain it. Everything she needed was within arms reach. She has finally arrived at a place where she can be vulnerable, honest and fulfilled, without the need to hand over who she is to another. Everything she needed to be satisfied was there all along, it’s just that guilt, confusion, shame and pressure had muddied the view.
Halina Reijn’s sensual thriller delivered the kicks with undeniably sexy kinks, but ultimately Babygirl was so much more than that. The film allowed Kidman to embody and explore the conflicts that women feel about power and sexuality but are too often afraid to speak of. It was a brave and powerful performance from Kidman that allowed us to hold up a mirror to society and ask ourselves, how honest are we about what we want, what we desire? Are we guilty of letting our vulnerabilities hold us hostage?
Babygirl is a movie that asks questions about power, consent, self-acceptance and honesty. It might be wrapped up in an exciting journey of sexuality, but ultimately it digs much deeper at the female psyche and gives us a safe place to ask ourselves where we stand, and where exactly true power lies.
A brave and bold film, Babygirl never once shied away from making us ask the trickier questions…
