BABYGIRL (A24 – Dec. 25): We’ve reached the point where Nicole Kidman’s work ethic has become something of a running gag. In the past 5 years alone, she’s appeared in an incredible eight feature films and seven TV series, with three more series on tap for 2025 (so far). Truth be told, it can feel like she glides through some of her roles on a star-powered autopilot, with a relatively minimal amount of effort. (You wouldn’t call her turns in Nine Perfect Strangers or A Family Affair particularly memorable.) But every so often, she grabs a role with her teeth and reminds us what an extraordinary actress she can be. Kidman is spectacular in Halina Heijn’s Babygirl, a performance that won her the Best Actress prize in Venice and will certainly have her in the Oscar scrum. She plays Romy, the CEO of the tech company behind the mechanisms on overhead tracks that pluck the precise items from gigantic Amazon-sized warehouses ordered by consumers. Her affect is similar to her product, extremely effective and mostly coolly above the fray except where needed. Her family life with theater director husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas) and daughters (Esther McGregor and Vaughn Reilly) is only mildly dysfunctional. While appearing to be entirely in control, though, what Romy really wants is to submit. It’s a desire she’s satisfied via the internet, until she meets Samuel (Harris Dickinson), a new intern at the company. (Her first sight of him is on the street, controlling an unruly dog.) Despite their differences in rank and age, Samuel immediately gets what turns Romy on, and before long they’re having hotel trysts. Babygirl plays with the question of what Samuel’s motivations are, and Dickinson is marvelously ambiguous, with a dexterity that hasn’t been evident in his previous roles. Babygirl is a big step up for Reijn, whose Bodies Bodies Bodies was consumed by its own coolness. The film is sleek and assured (the cinematographer is Jasper Wolf, who also shot Bodies), and it only falters near the end, where it seems to rush to a conclusion that feels too pat. Whatever its minor flaws, Babygirl is memorable for its stunning lead performance, as Kidman creates a bold portrait of a woman shocked by her own wants.
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