Grab a fan, open the windows or take your jumper off because it’s about to get hot in here. It’s already October, yes, but temperature’s rising since A24 released the official trailer of Babygirl, the highly anticipated movie where Nicole Kidman stars as a CEO who engages in a power-fuelled relationship with a new intern who’s twenty years younger than her. Dangerous, daring, sexy, and exhilarating, the new film directed by Halina Reijn premiered just a month ago at the Venice Film Festival, where the Australian actress won for Best Actress. So, are you ready to be seduced too?
Relationships with massive age gaps (twenty years or more) are nothing new, that’s for sure. But it feels refreshing to see a woman being the eldest. In a society ruled by patriarchy, we’ve become used to seeing male rockstars, actors and businessmen with early twenty-year-olds by their arms—just think of the joke around Leonardo DiCaprio’s age limit: when a girlfriend of his turns twenty-five, he discards her. But when it comes to women… that’s a completely different story. Madonna, Cher, and many others have had to put up with public scrutiny and intense criticism (as usual) for dating guys who’re half their age. But what’s wrong with that? Mainly, the imbalance in terms of experience and, hence, power.
Power is, precisely, what Babygirl is mainly about. Actor Harris Dickinson, who plays the intern, and Nicole Kidman explore together roles of domination and submission, an interplay that involves seduction, obedience, flirtation, and more. Judging from the trailer, things get torrid between the two, adding an extra spicy ingredient: secrecy (Kidman’s character is a married woman with children living a ‘functional’, ‘happy’ life). For those of you who’re eager to watch it, you’ll have to wait until Christmas day (December 25th). This is going to be a good gift for the naughty ones.