Nicole Kidman's 'Babygirl' Sex Scenes Are 'Scary' Yet 'Therapeutic'

If you watch Babygirl, you won’t end up on the list of naughty movies.

A tantalizing ode to female desire and liberation, the R-rated thriller (now in theaters) follows a married CEO named Romy (Nicole Kidman) who pursues her sexual fantasies with an overbearing but passionate intern named Samuel (Harris Dickinson) gives free rein. The film is an unintentional companion piece to Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 cult classic Eyes Wide Shut, another thrilling drama starring Kidman, also set in New York at Christmastime.

“Babygirl” writer/director Halina Reijn (“Bodies Bodies Bodies”) takes us through the film’s erotic kink scenes and the unique way she captured masturbation on screen.

Question: Romy gives a heartbreaking monologue about self-sabotage, about being a good person and wanting to feel “normal” despite her sexual desires. What inspired this speech?

Halina Reijn: I think it’s great that you started talking about this scene. Everyone talks about orgasms, which is also an amazing topic, but this scene is the core of the film. The idea of “I want to be what you like” is something that everyone can relate to because we all feel like aliens sometimes and want to do what is expected of us. For example, I don’t have children; I don’t have a partner. There are so many of us who look different or have a different sexual or gender identity, and we feel excluded because we are not following the “right” path. This is a very scary feeling.

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‘Babygirl’:Harris Dickinson had naval ambitions. Now he’s in the most perverted film of 2024.

There is so much tenderness in the kink scenes: Samuel is attentive and focused on Romy’s pleasure and comforts her when she cries on his shoulder after sex. What did you want to convey in these intimate moments?

The film is primarily about masculinity: what does it mean at the age of consent and what can I do? We see these two people go into this space where it’s almost therapeutic, even though the issue is morally wrong. They hurt other people, but they also heal. Life is full of duality and I wanted to show that in all my characters. Of course Samuel is aggressive towards Romy, but he is also incredibly sensitive, fearful and nervous, and that’s how we feel when we try new things with a bed partner. You can feel reborn when you find a new person.

There is very little nudity in the film and most of the sex scenes are shot in close-ups of Nicole’s face. Why was that important to you?

In real life, banging two bodies against each other is great, but in movies, sexuality is more of a suggestion. I think the most sexual moment in the movie is the milk scene where she drinks the full glass of milk and he says “good girl” and they don’t even touch. That’s why I try to find sexuality in different ways in my film, giving each other assignments or seeing how far Romy can go in real life – losing her family or being canceled – as the protagonist. This is far more provocative and taboo than any real intimate scenes.

But in terms of the way I shoot, I try to think about, “What does the female gaze look like?” What does it mean if it’s not the standard prototype of a straight white man? : the breasts and the vagina, where the woman is afraid and wants to hide from herself that she is doing it away before you have even had the orgasm. That’s why I always want to show the shame that comes with sex: “I want to do this, but I don’t think I’m allowed to.”

This film feels like a bookend to Eyes Wide Shut, only this time it’s Nicole stepping through the mirror and exploring her sexual fantasies. Were you consciously thinking about this film when you were writing “Babygirl”?

I didn’t realize that until we cast Nicole. In “Eyes Wide Shut” she only tells the story of a fantasy, but we are never allowed to act on it. The rest of the film is Tom Cruise’s reaction to this story. She hasn’t even had (an affair) and yet her husband goes on the whole trip! It’s a great movie, but ironically, Babygirl is sort of the female answer to it. What happens when a woman begins to explore her sexuality and, for better or worse, has to learn what she needs in order to be able to ask for what she needs? Communication between people is key. If you want a sex life that stands the test of time, you need to be able to ask for what you want.

There’s an amazing pinprick of Harris dancing shirtless to George Michael’s “Father Figure.” Why this song?

“Father Figure” is my anthem for life, and I had this (idea) before I even started writing it. I knew I wanted Samuel to feel very fatherly, and that’s hard to ask of a young man, especially when you have Nicole Kidman – one of the biggest stars in the world – in front of you. How are you supposed to be the father of someone who is an icon and a goddess? But Harris is so fatherly, and that really surprised me. They are both the daddy because Nicole is just as much the daddy in this sexual dynamic. Both can be dominant and masochistic, and that’s what you need in a film like this.

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