Be wary of appearances. Babygirlin theaters since January 15, opens with a long sex scene between Romy (Nicole Kidman) and her husband (Antonio Banderas). The climax arrives, and the two lovers, seemingly fulfilled, look into each other’s eyes and tell each other that they love each other. But when the sequence ends, and Romy goes into the next room to masturbate in front of her computer, we understand that the orgasm we have just witnessed was simulated.
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Between homage and subversion
Over the course of the film, this powerful New York business leader will risk her family life and her career, by beginning an increasingly complex game of seduction with a young intern named Samuel (Harris Dickinson). Sexual tension, high chemistry, love triangles, an all-star cast and a hit-packed soundtrack: Babygirl is a delicious cinematic candy that can be enjoyed without hunger. Across the Atlantic, some of its most entertaining scenes have even already become cult, notably this moment where Romy drinks in one gulp a large glass of milk ordered for her by Samuel. But behind its colorful and recreational exterior, Dutch director Halina Reijn’s film is less superficial than it seems.
The filmmaker, who herself filmed as a young actress alongside Paul Verhoeven, the director of Basic Instinct et Showgirlshas always been fascinated by the erotic thriller genre. Babygirlhis second feature film after horror comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies, is both an affectionate tribute and a subversion of the codes of this cinematic genre which has fallen into disuse. In the structure of the film, in fact, nothing will surprise you, from the meeting to the first kiss, including the complications and other reconciliations.
Clash of generations
Unlike the classics of the genre, however, the film offers a more modern, and less conventionally gendered, look at sex and intimacy. By moving away from the expected archetypes (dominant man and submissive woman), Babygirl blurs the lines and complicates the attitudes of its characters at every turn. Young Samuel, for example, is in a position of hierarchical inferiority, but it is he who plays the dominant role in front of his boss. Seemingly confident, he can be by turns cold, immature and affectionate, sometimes in the space of a few minutes. Throughout the film, we wonder how much control the intern truly maintains.
The filmmaker, who refuses to offer too simple answers, launches a multitude of avenues on power relations and modern sexuality, but also the way in which different generations take hold of it. While Antonio Banderas’ character, a tender and self-confident husband, ignores his wife’s signals of rejection, Harris Dickinson’s character, a younger man, is much more concerned with her consent.
Romy’s young employee, ambitious and feminist, sees her boss as a model of success, before realizing that a woman CEO is not necessarily more virtuous than a man. While Romy sees her own infidelity as an unforgivable transgression, her teenage daughter maintains a romantic relationship with two girls at the same time, without feeling the slightest guilt.
-Female portrait
As for Romy, when we meet her, she is overwhelmed by contradictory injunctions (ideal mother, loving wife in a flowered apron, firm but smiling CEO), to the point of losing her own identity. If the genre of erotic film tends to adopt a male gaze, and to objectify its femme fatale characters, this is not the case with Babygirlwhich follows the moods of a woman frustrated in her sexuality and in her life in general.
Stifled by her own quest for control, in her work, Romy does everything to project an image that is at once robotic, smooth and harmless. But while filming a commercial for his company, a young employee pointed out to him: “being vulnerable is a positive thing, not a negative thing”. By becoming a “babygirl”, this woman who is used to controlling everything reveals that deep down she only wants one thing: to abandon all decision-making. Thus, his attraction to Samuel seems deep down to reflect a much darker desire for self-destruction.
The film makes wonderful use of the physique of Nicole Kidman, a beauty queen who is approaching sixty, and seems to dialogue directly with the public image of the actress: in a montage at the beginning of the film, we see her chasing impossible perfection, based on cryogenic chambers, EMDR sessions, and Botox injections. With her impeccably beige and personalityless wardrobe, the heroine tries so hard to submit to society’s expectations that she ends up freezing.
Through her meeting with Samuel, she will relearn to accept her rough edges, and assert her needs.
Nicole Kidman at the top
While honest portraits of female sexuality remain rare in cinema, Halina Reijn has a field day exploring the complex desire of her heroine. In a particularly striking scene, Romy finds herself face down on the floor of a hotel room. As Samuel begins to touch her, the camera stays focused on Nicole Kidman’s convulsed face, during a long sequence that ends with a gleaming orgasm.
The Australian actress, who has never shied away from subversive or highly sexualized roles (Eyes Wide Shut, Paperboy, Birth) has already been rewarded for her performance at the Venice Film Festival. With this new tour de force, she could well find herself nominated for an Oscar for this daring performance.
