Babygirl (2024): review

A carefully controlled surface

Romy Miller is a successful businesswoman whose public life suggests discipline and control. An affair with Samuel, a much younger intern, unsettles that order. Professional power, family responsibilities and desires that do not fit her self-image begin to collide.

Halina Reijn is interested in more than the provocation of an affair. She explores the contradictions of power and why someone who appears entirely self-possessed might seek a different form of intimacy. That gives the story greater psychological interest than an uncomplicated exercise in breaking a taboo.

Vulnerability and tension

Nicole Kidman makes Romy’s uncertainty beneath the controlled surface feel convincing. Harris Dickinson gives Samuel a presence that resists a simple reading of their relationship. That tension makes their encounters intense. Antonio Banderas also gives substance to Romy’s marriage rather than leaving her husband as an incidental obstacle.

The direction uses the contrast between public order and private encounters effectively. Intimacy is not merely a collection of decorative images; it changes how the characters understand one another. The film takes female desire seriously without offering an easy division between strength and vulnerability.

Verdict

Babygirl is an intense, daring and persuasively performed film. Its strength lies in the contradictions of its protagonist and its willingness to stay with them. Kidman carries a drama that moves beyond its provocative premise into a serious examination of control, identity and desire.