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Babygirl Review: Nicole Kidman Leads a Tense Erotic Thriller

Nicole Kidman anchors Halina Reijn’s erotic thriller about a CEO whose affair with a much younger intern puts her authority, family, and private desires in tension.
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Babygirl is a 2024 erotic thriller about a powerful CEO whose affair with a much younger intern unsettles the authority she commands at work and the life she has built at home. Nicole Kidman gives the film its center of gravity as Romy, a woman drawn toward desire even as she reckons with guilt, responsibility, and the risks of letting go of control.

What is Babygirl about?

Written and directed by Halina Reijn, Babygirl follows Romy, a high-powered CEO who begins an affair with a much younger intern, putting her career and family at risk. Harris Dickinson plays the intern; Sophie Wilde and Antonio Banderas are also among the principal cast. The film runs about 114 minutes, with the recorded runtime varying by edition.

The setup makes workplace hierarchy part of the suspense, not just background. Romy holds public authority, but the affair draws her into a private dynamic in which control, vulnerability, and desire do not line up neatly. The film’s tension comes from that friction: what Romy wants, what she risks, and how much agency either person has as the relationship shifts.

How does the film handle power and desire?

Reijn has described the film as an exploration of taboo fantasies and opposing forces within people. In her director statement for the Venice Biennale catalogue, she writes: “To me, feminism is the freedom to study a woman’s vulnerability, love, shame, rage, and inner beast.” That is Reijn’s stated perspective on the project, rather than a formula that dictates how every viewer must interpret it.

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The affair invites questions about consent and hierarchy without reducing its tension to a simple reversal of who is in charge. The power imbalance of the workplace remains consequential even as the relationship tests Romy’s assumptions about authority. Its erotic charge works best when the uncertainty also feels dangerous; the film’s humor can either sharpen that unease or soften it, depending on the scene.

Nicole Kidman’s performance as Romy

Kidman plays Romy as someone whose composure has a cost. Her performance makes visible the gap between a woman accustomed to directing a room and one confronting desires she cannot neatly manage. That tension gives the film a more searching dimension than a succession of provocative encounters: Romy is also negotiating guilt and her obligations to people she loves.

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TIME critic Stephanie Zacharek highlights Kidman’s performance and reads the story through Romy’s stifled desire, guilt, and responsibility. That emphasis helps explain why the film’s central question is not only what Romy will do next, but what the affair reveals about the life she has been maintaining.

Does Babygirl work as an erotic thriller?

The film updates a recognizable mode rather than simply replaying it. Associated Press critic Jake Coyle compares it with 1990s erotic thrillers such as Basic Instinct and 9 ½ Weeks, while noting that its gender and power dynamics keep shifting. Coyle also finds it may not be as daring as it wants to be; that is one critic’s judgment, not a settled verdict.

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For viewers weighing the film’s success, the key is whether its erotic tension generates genuine narrative suspense and whether its treatment of workplace hierarchy remains persuasive as the relationship changes. Its humor is another pressure point: it can make the danger more unsettling by contrast, or reduce the stakes. The ending’s force depends on whether Romy’s conflict feels convincingly resolved rather than merely concluded.

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Content, rating, and runtime

In the United States, Apple TV lists an R rating for strong sexual content, nudity, and language. The UK BBFC classification also flags strong sex and sexualised nudity, erotic role-play involving domination and submission, strong language, and threat. The BBFC lists the cinema version at 114 minutes 30 seconds and the home-entertainment version at 114 minutes 37 seconds; the Venice Biennale catalogue gives a 114-minute runtime.

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These are adult-oriented content advisories, and the film’s sexual material and power-play are central to its premise. Classification details vary by territory, so viewers should consult the listing where they plan to watch.

Quick Recap

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