Babygirl (2024)

"No; stay."

Literally making the poster and backdrop the dog because the dog was the true star of the film and the best part of the film for me, easily. 

I went into this film not expecting a lot, despite it being A24 and being a huge A24 fan. From the trailers, it seemed like a Fifty Shades of Grey knockoff, where I wasn't that too far off in my prediction. I only went because as an AAA24 member, I get tickets to opening week viewings of A24 films for free. 

Despite my extremely low expectations, I was actually surprised; not pleasantly surprised, but surprised, nonetheless. I was anticipating being bored and hating it, where I found myself somewhat interested and not bored the entire runtime. I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would, but still was not a fan. 

I must admit, I do not think I was the target audience of this film; this was a very heternormative, white, sexual, horny, romance film, none of which are categories that I really fall into. There were many old white women that walked into my theater, and I think that they really enjoyed it and got exactly what they were looking for, so good for them. I think that this speaks to a very specific target audience, of which I did not fall into. 

Nicole Kidman does a phenomenal job, and I must commend her for her acting job. I don't think that it's her fault that I disliked this movie, as I felt that she put everything she could into it. It's just a plotless movie that focuses on sex and power dynamics, which is what all people want sometimes; even then, I found that it didn't even showcase the kinky aspect of things, the power dynamic of things, or the struggle of Romy's character all that well. While it does hint at the struggle of Romy's desire for something new and the life she's built, I really think they could have gone more in-depth with it and shown the breakdowns that come with the sacrifice of risking it all more. 

I agree with another user, it didn't start off too bad, but just lost steam as it continued on. There were a lot of scenes that were irrelevant and didn't add to the tension or (lack of) plot of the film, and there were so many mental aspects of Romy's mind that could have been explored, but just weren't. 

Overall, I wasn't all that disappointed because I didn't go in with high expectations. I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would, but it's definitely not one that I'd rewatch. In my own opinion, it failed to be sexy, it failed to be encapsulating, and it failed to tell a successful story of someone struggling with fighting power dynamics and risking everything one has for a few moments of pleasure. One of the lower A24 rankings for me for sure, but not the worst, and it definitely has its place for a specific, niche audience that I just wasn't a part of.