Directed by: Halina Reijn
Distributed by: A24
Written by Taylor Baker
34/100
Halijna Reign’s buzzy follow-up to “Bodies Bodies Bodies” is an underdeveloped narrative. In “Babygirl,” Nicole Kidman plays Romy Mathis, a woman who fakes orgasms for her husband by night and rules over a robotic distribution network by day, though they don’t really commit to the business plan the company operates under. This underexplanation is a pattern the film repeats elsewhere.
Cinematographer Jasper Wolf goes for a sleek look with establishing shots of exteriors and new interiors reminiscent of Sam Esmail’s stylings in “Mr. Robot” and “Homecoming.” Wolf’s expertise is most obvious when he makes an otherwise unimportant strobe scene at a warehouse party look like slick stop-motion for a brief span.
The film falls away on the page, though, for nearly the entire runtime, we’re focused on Romy’s sexuality, her beauty, and psychological treatments–one an explicit ode to Blade Runner–but it all boils down to her saying, “I’ve been fucked up as long as I can remember” near the end of the film on what must be a fifty-thousand dollar couch in her what is likely a ten million dollar weekend getaway home. “Babygirl” throws a lot at the audience to process but lacks character.
If you heard about it from a friend, you’ve likely heard of some of the film mechanics rather than the film’s depth. The sole substantive character is Antonio Banderas’s Jacob Mathis. Harris Dickinson’s Samuel seemingly exists only as a conceit for the narrative premise of the film to function. Likewise, Romy is only necessary as part of the narrative process. Much like the robots we see on cutaways moving boxes and bins up and down the distribution line, the characters function as caricatures that move the plot down the manufacturing line rather than speaking to the brevity and substantiveness of human experience or the interiority of the human condition.
Neutered. “Babygirl” boasts of sexuality but has none. Sure, there’s skin, bare breasts, compromising positions, guilt, and domination. But it lacks sensuality and intimacy. When Dickinson’s Samuel asks for Romy to hold him or Romy talks about how much she loves her family, it has as much nuance and sincerity as a video of robots moving packages around an Amazon Warehouse. Sure, the job was done, but do we want it done this way? Is this what we’re settling for? Who’s version of intimacy or honesty is this? If making audiences ask these questions is what Reijn was striving for, she succeeded. If not….
“Babygirl” Trailer
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