Film Review - Babygirl
Images courtesy of A24.
Halina Reijn’s erotic thriller, Babygirl, defies genre expectations while maintaining a compelling storyline. Babygirl follows Romy, a highly strung businesswoman who begins an affair with Samuel, an intern at her company. Nicole Kidman (Big Little Lies) and Harris Dickinson (The Iron Claw) delivered solid performances, helping to create singular characters amidst the regimented structure of a corporate setting. Reijn’s impressionistic approach to constructing each scene made Babygirl visually refreshing. The camerawork focalised Romy’s point of view without losing its artistic quality or becoming too insular.
Babygirl takes on the ‘ick’ factor of an aging woman’s sex life, demanding a degree of empathy from the audience that most viewers will not be prepared to offer. Instead of catering to a localised ideal of relatability, Reijn builds strong characters who are challenging to understand at times. The ever-shifting expectation of ‘professionalism’ is scrutinised through the lens of Romy and Samuel’s relationship, if you can call it that. Hard and soft power are placed at odds, challenging the audience’s perception of who really holds the leash.
Samuel is ill-suited for the corporate ladder-climb awaiting him, as indicated by his clothing and his questions surrounding Romy’s company's environmental impacts, but his intact sense of self grants him freedom. Romy is bound to her constructed CEO persona, constantly fretting that someone will take away the power she has worked to achieve within an antiquated system. Babygirl approaches Romy at the time in her life where her role is becoming irrelevant. Though she runs a successful company, she appears to spend most of her time answering to others. By confronting her desires head on, she regains power over her life, ultimately resolving issues with her family life as well as her workplace.
Each subversive character seems to represent a different taboo, placing the audience face-to-face with fear, shame and repression. Though the thriller element seemed to be lacking, the amoral stance of Babygirl could be thrilling for some. Reijn suggests that pleasure has an interstitial quality, making it neither good nor evil, only a key part of life.
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Babygirl is screening in Australian cinemas from Thursday the 30th of January. For more info, click here.