Babygirl

It's the most anticipated film of this first part of the 81st Venice International Film Festival. And after the first viewing you immediately understand why. It pushes the boundaries of sensuality, sex, sound, ambition, morality and feminism. All this is possible thanks to a captivating Nicole Kidman, an intimate script and direction by Halina Reijn and a production by A24, which as always never disappoints.

Business executive "Romy" (Nicole Kidman) is initially impressed with the dog-handling skills of "Samuel" (Harris Dickinson) but when she discovers that he is to be an intern in her e-packaging company something else starts to draw her to the man. We already know that though happily enough married to "Jacob" (Antonio Banderas) she's not exactly fulfilled in the bedroom department, and "Samuel" seems to sense that it's an area that maybe he can help with. Were not just talking sex, here - oh. no. This is about a lady with fantasy of being dominated. About her surrendering control completely, and if you're going to do that at all, then why not this tall, handsome and mischievous bit of rough? Of course, like any addiction - it starts to get o...

'Babygirl' is sex and bugger all else. It features two of the more freaky characters in cinematic history, they both kinda creeped me out I'm not going to lie - I will never look at a tie in the same way again, or a glass of milk for that matter. Kudos for creativity, I guess!

Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson do commit to their respective roles, some of the noises coming out of the former were quite something to witness. In fairness, if this is what they were going for then both actors do a fine job. Antonio Banderas is at least there to add sort of normality.

Impressively, aside from a few nips, there isn't much nudity in this, how you show so much without showing barely anything is actually quite the thing. I'm not against seeing ...

Babygirl is the story of high-strung CEO who secretly desires to be dominated and controlled. She instead gets into a weird relationship with a young intern who kind of is interested in the same thing, but also just is worried about how much milk she is drinking? There relationship develops throughout the movie but not in any interesting way. At one point he makes her stand in a corner and the music is weirdly intense for no real reason.

Also we are expected to believe that she would cheat on Antonio Banderas with this weird looking lanky kid that doesn't know how to comb his hair?

Babygirl (2024) is yet another attempt at making a provocative drama that leans too much on surface-level shock value rather than compelling storytelling. The plot, if you can call it that, revolves around an imbalanced relationship dynamic that lacks any real emotional depth. There is no real buildup, no effort to make the audience care about these characters beyond their physical interactions, and certainly no originality. The film tries to be daring, but instead, it feels like a predictable series of events with little payoff.

The directing is uninspired, relying on overused shaky cam techniques that have no business in a drama like this. The cinematography does nothing to elevate the story, and at times, it feels like the camera is a...