Empowerment and Eroticism Collide in This Steamy Corporate Affair [VENICE 2024]

Approximately once every five days someone starts an insipid online conversation about the role of sex in movies. How much is too much, is it exploitative to the actors, should it be there if it doesn’t move the plot forward, et cetera, ad infinitum.

“Babygirl,” if there’s any justice in the world, should put an end to this argument. Its horniness is not a bug — it’s a feature. And despite its faults, it showcases how much sex scenes can be used to explore character beyond their mere ability to titillate (but don’t worry, there’s plenty of that as well). With ballsy performances from Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, the much-anticipated “Babygirl” blends eroticism with sexual empowerment in a way that might not be for everyone, but will certainly find an audience that appreciates it.

Romy (Nicole Kidman) is pretty much the ultimate girl boss. She is CEO of a successful shipping company, and she has two loving daughters and a husband (Antonio Banderas) who dotes on her. OK, so she doesn’t have the most satisfying sex life in the world, but one can’t have everything. But her curiosity — and her sex drive — is piqued when an assertive young intern, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), joins her company. He seems to intuitively understand that, as much as she’s in control in her day-to-day life, she wants to be taken to a submissive place with her lover. And as much as she tries to remain professional and deny her feelings, she finds herself caught up in a torrid love affair that threatens to tear down everything that matters in her life — but it’s also the most sexually fulfilled she’s ever been.

“Babygirl” is billed as an erotic thriller, but that’s not entirely accurate. It has elements of a thriller — will Samuel leverage their relationship for power, what lengths will Romy go to in order to prevent her secrets from getting out — but this part of the film is, to be honest, rather half-hearted.

What director Halina Reijn seems more interested in exploring is Romy’s relationship with herself, and her journey to sexual self-expression. For her entire life, she’d considered her kinks and preferences to be something embarrassing and shameful best hidden from even her most intimate partners. Samuel, inexplicably some sort of sex guru, encourages her to embrace the elements of their relationship that actually turn her on, rather than just what she’s been socialized to believe what girls want — after all, if it’s between two consenting adults, it should be fair game, right?

(Of course, whether or not this experimentation should play out between the CEO of a corporation and one of her employees is another question entirely.)

Kidman allows herself become incredibly vulnerable as Romy, leaving absolutely nothing on the table and bringing emotional honesty to the role. So we understand Romy — her character makes a lot of sense. Samuel, on the other hand, is much less fleshed out. It’s not necessarily Harris Dickinson’s fault: He’s magnetic and commanding in the role, supremely sure of himself even when it seems like he’s making up their little game as he goes along. But it’s clear fairly early on that “Babygirl” is much more focused on Romy’s journey, leaving Samuel feeling frustratingly underdeveloped. What he actually wants, either out of their relationship or just life in general, isn’t really touched upon. His only role, it would seem, is to serve as a conduit for Romy’s sexual awakening. And that’s the only part of the film that pays off, or feels fully developed. Other subplots, like Samuel’s relationship with Esme (Sophie Wilde), Romy’s ambitious young assistant, or the ramifications of Romy’s massive HR snafu, are left entirely by the wayside.

Their actual affair, although, is worth the price of admission. They have a spark-filled but slightly self-conscious chemistry, which is only fitting, considering that both are just figuring out this whole BDSM thing. Their uncertainty gives the relationship an unexpected sweetness, almost immaturity, that prevents it from venturing into “Fifty Shades of Grey” territory, which is no small feat, given the film’s subject matter.

Harris Dickinson is a fascinating love interest, and Antonio Banderas is a sweet cinnamon roll of a crushingly emasculated husband, but make no mistake: This is Nicole Kidman’s baby from start to finish. There’s a tremendous amount of trust involved in a production like this, and she commits to the process entirely.

“Babygirl” may not be perfect, but it’s a fun ride, and a novel enough experience to make it worth watching, for both horndog (we mean that as a compliment) and non-horndog audiences alike. After all, we don’t get sex-positive stories about powerful women in their 50s every day of the week.

“Babygirl” hits theaters on December 25, 2024.