‘Babygirl’ Review: Nicole Kidman Is A Woman On The Verge In Halina Reijn’s Sexually Charged S&M Story – Venice Film Festival

‘Babygirl’ Review: Nicole Kidman Is A Woman On The Verge In Halina Reijn’s Sexually Charged S&M Story – Venice Film Festival

Halina Reijn’s frank sexual odyssey begins as it means to go on, with a level of candor that many audiences will find hard to process. They bought into Nicole Kidman’s performance alright, since it’s hard to ignore the amount of dedication, not to mention naked flesh, that she brings to the role. But though there […]

‘Babygirl’ Review: Nicole Kidman Is Fearless in an Erotic Office Drama About the Age of Control

One of the many reasons that sex scenes in movies have faded as a phenomenon is the omnipresence of pornography. When people can just click on their deepest kinks and favored objects of desire, who needs the carefully staged R-rated “erotic” version? As if to acknowledge this, “Babygirl,” a drama about a dangerous office liaison written and directed by Halina Reijn (“Bodies Bodies Bodies”), opens with a high-angle close-up of Nicole Kidman str…

‘Babygirl’ Review: Nicole Kidman Is Debased and Desired by Harris Dickinson in a Kinky, Sex-Positive S&M Dramedy

The worst thing your partner could possibly say to you after sex, after you’ve said “I love you,” is the dreaded “love you.” No “I.” And that’s not the most demoralizing response Romy (Nicole Kidman) has for an amorous confession by her husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas) in “Babygirl,” writer/director Halina Reijn’s provocative erotic dramedy that begins and ends with an orgasm. One of them is faked, but in between, this perversely funny and absor…

Venice Review: Halina Reijn’s Babygirl Marks a New Era of the Erotic Movie

Boosted by Locarno-awarded debut Instinct, Dutch actor-director Halina Reijn fit nicely in the A24 canon with her satirical thriller Bodies Bodies Bodies. Yet the latter elicited rather lukewarm critical responses and it almost seemed Reijn might have been a one-hit European wonder fallen prey to the American dream. Then came Babygirl. As one of the first competition titles to grace the Lido, it promises a lot: not only does its title roll off t…

‘Babygirl’ Review: Nicole Kidman & Harris Dickinson Sizzle in Halina Reijn’s Erotic Drama

To the uninformed bystander, Romy (Nicole Kidman) leads a perfect life. She is a beautiful CEO living in a lavish New York townhouse with two loving teenage daughters and a doting husband who still desires her after two decades of marriage. Still, in these twenty years, theatre director Jacob (Antonio Banderas) never managed to give his wife an orgasm. And boy, does Romy need one. When a dashing new intern walks into her office, it is as if all …