Gotta start the year off somewhere - Babygirl
Halina Reijn has a sure eye for unique characters and perhaps the wryest of wits. Bodies, Bodies, Bodies was pretty fun and a rip on privilege, class, social media, all wrapped up in a murder mystery. Babygirl interrogates sex and power wrapped up in a kind of dramedy. I agree with a number of people that there are resonances with Secretary and Kidman’s earlier turn in Eyes Wide Shut , but while those films were focused and more pointed, Babygirl doesn’t quite resonate with me. Kidman’s Romy Mathis is by any measure, a remarkable woman; she heads a robotics company on the cutting edge, is obviously successful, has a beautiful family and discovers she has a kink. Maybe more than one, but the principle one that is front and center is her BDSM relationship with an intern, Samuel, that threatens everything. For awhile, there’s a genuine dramatic tension that sustains the film until it ceases to evolve into anything more interest...