“Good girl.”
We hear those words in the trailer for A24’s Babygirl, but that does little to prepare for the scene in which Samuel (Harris Dickinson) says them to Romy (Nicole Kidman). Every second of this film leading up to it feels like a lit fuse, and that is the moment we can feel it all ignite. It is expected, but we still collectively take a breath in the theatre.
Babygirl follows Romy, a high-powered and high-strung executive. Though she puts on a front, she is not satisfied with the sex she and her husband, Jacob (Antonio Banderas), are having. There are things she wants that she doesn’t think Jacob would. And so, though she appears to be a woman that has it all, she carries the dark secret that many women do: She is left unsatisfied and has to turn to her own devices. It’s a seamless juxtaposition between a high-powered CEO with her own company called Tensile, and the simple woman that she is beneath.
When she first sees Samuel on the street, she is drawn in by how he calms down an upset dog. It reminds us that we are still animals ourselves, no matter how civilized we become. And as she begins to succumb to the thing building between them, Kidman gives us a masterclass in performance as she switches between someone always in control and a wide-eyed woman wanting praise and submission.
Domination and submission is not black-and-white
In a scene where Romy and Samuel meet in a hotel, we witness a war inside her as she fights between wanting to follow Samuel’s orders to submit and wanting to resist it, because even though she wants to give up that control, actually giving in is much different than fantasizing. That seems to be the crux of the film itself. That, and the breathless anticipation between one demand and the next.
In female-written and -directed films, there is always a light shone on the hardships that women face that men often miss. One I particularly liked was a montage of Romy going through treatments such a cryotherapy and botox. A female lens gave it a deeper, more humanized color grading: This is something women do not because we want it, but because society expects us to do it. We have to look pretty no matter how old we are, because our desirability hinges on it.
Babygirl accomplishes what 50 Shades of Grey thought it did. Whereas 50 Shades relied solely on the power aspect of this kind of relationship (and in doing so completely misrepresented the community), Babygirl gives you the foundations: Consent, mutual understanding, trust. Safe words, importantly. The power is acknowledged, but never abused. Outs are always offered. Romy holds the power in the office; Samuel holds it in the relationship.
Empowerment and liberation under the guise of a thriller
It is devastatingly sexy and breathlessly erotic. Babygirl gives us not only the thrill of submission, but the raw-nerve vulnerability that can follow it, especially when it’s something that you aren’t used to. It isn’t just about sex, though it leads you in with that, unaware of what’s hidden just beneath. These characters learn from each other, and, in doing so, discover new aspects of themselves.
Kidman brings a gorgeously nuanced performance in what is one of her best in recent years. I had high hopes for Dickinson after loving his performance in A Murder at the End of the World especially, and his turn as Samuel cemented his status as a phenomenally solid actor.
Babygirl is a film about having it all, but not having what you want. It’s about the complexity of human sexuality. And, most importantly, it’s about capturing something for women.
Published: Dec 16, 2024 05:01 pm