Babygirl ★★★

BOY, some people really don’t like Nicole Kidman.

If I had a dollar for everyone who has told me they don’t watch anything with her in it, I would probably have about $30.

As well as being polarising, Kidman is a very interesting actress whom you cannot say shies away from difficult roles.

Over the years she has slowly built up a collection of complex characters in films like To Die For, Eyes Wide Shut, Birth, The Paperboy and the television series Big Little Lies.

The latest of these is 2025’s Babygirl. Falsely marketed as an ‘erotic thriller’, it actually shares little with the likes of Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction or even Disclosure.

Halina Reijn’s film is a psychological drama about a successful, married but sexually unfulfilled woman who embarks on an unconventional and complex relationship with a younger man.

The fact the relationship occurs in a workplace where she is a boss and he is an intern, is a key aspect of the dynamic that the film examines.

Kidman is excellent in the lead role and there is good support from Antonio Banderas as her husband. The best scenes in the film are those between their characters.

Unfortunately, Harris Dickinson feels a little flat as a man that Kidman’s character risks everything,  including her family, to have this tempestuous affair with.

The relationship is certainly one that fulfills the sexual shortcomings in Kidman’s character’s marriage, but it’s harder to understand her need to be dominated by somebody who barely ratesans an equal in any way, let alone a force of attraction.

Still, there are some interesting angles to the story that give it some extra relevance today and the film’s final message is one that most viewers will probably be satisfied with.

Watched at the cinema.