“Babygirl” with Nicole Kidman: plot, trailer, release date and controversies at a glance
“Babygirl”is the name of the latest film– and it's on everyone's lips even before it's released in the cinema. Also because he brings up a topic that is very sensitive: a work affair with an enormous age difference. It's about, power, marital problems - and the question of what opportunities women have for advancement in a world dominated by men. In other words, topics that determine the reality of many people, but which are usually discussed behind closed doors. Here you can find out exactly what it's about - and why the film is already being hotly debated in the run-up to its release.
“Babygirl” with Nicole Kidman: That’s what it’s about
The plot of “Babygirl”, or at least what is known about it so far, can be summarized quite quickly: The protagonist, played by Nicole Kidman, is the CEO of a large company and her marriage - at least that's what the trailer suggests - is happy , but not entirely sexually satisfying.
Harris Dickinson plays the role of an intern who comes to her company and seems to turn her head from the start. Especially because he talks to her in a completely different way than she is used to. Extremely direct, almost as if he were her boss.
Niko Tavernise
The two begin an affair that seems to thrive on reversing everyday power dynamics. “You like being told what to do,” Dickinson says to the much more senior Kidman in the trailer. But then something seems to change, and what could have been a perfectly normal marital drama becomes a thriller - at the latest when we see Dickinson breaking into Kidman's house, befriending her children and threatening her to tell her husband their secret betrayed.
So there will definitely be some sex scenes, but also violence and mind games, that much seems certain. And Nicole Kidman's first interviews about the film also suggest this.
In a conversation withIndieWireShe described the film as the “most revealing” of her career. Looking back on her experience with the role, she remembers the discomfort and complexity that came with it and how she "never really got out" of her role. “It wore me down. At some point I thought: I don’t want to be touched anymore,” she said, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” And yet she finds it important and exciting to explore characters through the lens of eroticism and these types of relationships. A task that she was able to pursue as an actress despite all the discomfort because Halina Reijn, the film's producer, created a real safe space on the set.
Courtesy of A24
Halina herself said oppositeIndieWireagain, she doesn't know whether she has created a good or bad film. But what she would know is that it is a “hot film”.
These stars star in “Babygirl”.
At the center of the erotic thriller “Babygirl” are Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson. Both with a lot of film experience when it comes to intense dramas and sensitive sex scenes. One of Nicole Kidman's most famous films is "Eyes Wide Shut", in which the actress gets into a marital dispute alongside Tom Cruise, which becomes a sexual fever dream for both of them. Dickinson, on the other hand, recently played a brother of the Von Erich family in the wrestling drama “Iron Claw”.
In addition, none other than Antonio Banderas will play Nicole Kidman's husband, and Sophie Wilde, Jean Reno, Victor Slezak, Esther McGregor, Vaughan Reilly and Anoop will also be in the cast.
Courtesy of A24
The trailer for “Babygirl” shows sexual tension and psychological power games
The trailer for “Babygirl” gives an insight into the complicated entanglements that Nicole Kidman's character gets into when she gets involved with a younger man who is also her colleague - and shows how she navigates between sexual desire and fear for her career and family begins to waver.
“Babygirl” controversy: That’s why the film is already being discussed so hotly
“Babygirl” is eagerly awaited by many – and already criticized by others. The latest cause for criticism was an interview by Nicole Kidman, in which she described the filming process as partly “liberating”, but at the same time said that after a while she felt a kind of sensory sensationand didn't want to allow any more touching. The role seems to have demanded something from her, which caused a lot of frustration - which in turn could have something to do with the premise of the film.
This premise is controversial, to say the least. By the way, “Babygirl” joins a whole host of current films, such as “” (also with Nicole Kidman, by the way) and ““, each of which shows a love/sexual relationship between a much older woman and a young man. Both films were partly announced and reviewed as feminist. Firstly, because the relationships were emotionally more complex than in most films where an older man has the hots for a younger one. On the other hand, because the older protagonists were granted freedom from the “older women don’t have hot sex” stereotypes. However, one can certainly discuss critically whether the gender swap based on the male “Lolita” motif really represents a kind of sexual liberation for women or simply toxic power relations according to the old “”-logic instead of abolishing it completely.
Furthermore, judging from the trailer, “Babygirl” runs the risk, like “50 Shades of Grey,” of portraying a pornified and ultimately distorted form of BDSM culture with a few provocative sayings and occasional bondage games. Because BDSM is much more complex and has much more to do with consent than is often portrayed in erotic films for the masses.
However, we only find out in the cinema to what extent “Babygirl” managed to create a differentiated picture of the complicated relationship at the center of the plot.
“Babygirl”: start date
The erotic thriller with Nicole Kidman will be in German cinemas from January 1, 2025.
This article was created with text passages from our GLAMOR colleagues in the UK.
