It’s so rare to see erotic dramas with the kind of pedigree, and set up for potential awards buzz, of Babygirl, and I think that’s because they’re a little hard to take seriously (see the ridiculous and tone-deaf Deep Water for further proof). What distinguishes the artistic erotic drama from the tawdry erotic drama will be a perhaps invisible line. Still, it’s rare for an actress of Nicole Kidman’s caliber, and let’s also be frank -her age- to headline an erotic drama, so that naturally draws some intrigue and eyeballs. Babygirl follows a familiar premise of taboo desires at the expense of domestic upheaval, but where it goes makes it ultimately feel like an unsatisfying morality tale.

Kidman plays Romy, a powerful tech CEO suffering from a lack of spark in her love life. She loves her husband (Antonio Banderas), her three teenage girls, and the life she’s built for herself, but she also needs to masturbate if she ever wants to be physically satisfied. Along comes a lanky hunk by the name of Samuel (Harris Dickinson) as an intern at her company and immediately makes her feel hot and bothered. He’s direct and wants to tell her what to do, and the excitement Romy feels makes her question how far she’s willing to go and what she’s willing to risk to chase her passions.

Babygirl is another rich person’s fantasy romance where a character risks losing their family on a fling, and usually these stories only go so many ways, primarily with the protagonist regretting their affair and learning some kind of lesson from the ordeal. For a formula meant to inspire titillation and transgression, these movies can be, at their core, very moralistic and conservative. There are so many movies that prominently feature cheating only for the person to realize how much they were taking for granted what they had all along. So many of these wayward participants don’t feel like they have lost something by the end even after risking their relationships, so the conclusion of these movies seems to be a facile “don’t do that again” lesson of sowing one’s oats. It strikes me as ironic that these stories are about untamed passions but they end so dispassionately. For the first half of Babygirl, I was questioning where this movie could lead: would the husband kill his wife’s lover and through the shared disposal of his body bring them closer together? Would it be revealed that Samuel was a stalker who manipulated his way into Romy’s life? Was her husband secretly behind this strapping young lad coming into her path and trying to provide her that spark of danger but in an unknowingly controlled environment? The eventual path of Babygirl is probably the most realistic path and yet it’s rather dramatically lacking and insert. Ultimately, the movie’s message seems to coalesce around accepting your desires and being open about sharing them; however, the proceeding movie doesn’t feel like a meaningful road to that cozy conclusion.

There’s a dramatically rich idea that could have been explored more maturely, namely that this woman has sacrificed her own physical pleasure for her career achievement. During one awkward night, Romy admits to her husband that over the decades of their relationship that he has never made her climax. His manly ego is bruised severely and Romy tries to wave away the statement, but the movie only seems to use this detail as further establishment for the motivation to have an affair. Director/writer Halina Reijn (Bodies Bodies Bodies) sets this up within the very first shot of the movie, with Romy finishing having sweaty sex with her husband only to finish by herself with the help of Internet pornography. Right away we know her husband isn’t doing it for her. There’s one moment where Romy explains that she feels like her desires are degrading and self-destructive, but she won’t share them with her husband. She tries to guide him there, planting a pillow over her head to cover her sight to facilitate her imagination, but it makes him feel uncomfortable to continue (“I feel like a villain”). There’s an interesting exploration of keeping passion stoked in a long-standing relationship where inertia can settle in, but the ultimate revelation is rather pat and all-too familiar: communicate more. Thanks, movie. So much of the movie is built around what Romy learns from how far she goes, but what do we learn about Samuel too? He’s kept a frustrating blank of a figure, more catalyst than fully developed character. If he’s ultimately just the excuse to push her out of her comfort zone, did he have to be this boring even with his kinks?

Will you find Babygirl sexy? I don’t know. It primarily trades in dominance/submissive dynamics, and the director keeps her camera’s gaze on the pursuit of feminine pleasure rather than closeups of pert anatomical parts. The sequences where Samuel orders Romy around played more unintentionally comical to me rather than decisively arousing, especially moments like him forcing her to eat out of his hand like a dog. I can understand being in such a high-powered job of constant decision-making might make a fantasy of giving up control and agency seem appealing, but this isn’t really explored in the movie. I can also understand the shame of feeling like your hidden desires might be too embarrassing to share with your partner, but this isn’t fully explored either. For all its heavy breathing and sultry glances, the movie feels far more clinical than passionate. The sensation I felt the most was a lulling curiosity that ultimately went unmet. Your mileage may vary.

Babygirl is the kind of movie that critics declare the lead actress being so “brave” to push boundaries at her age, to bare her body in an age bracket that Hollywood finds less-than-desirable. However, Kidman has long been an actress unafraid of the demands of nudity as well as challenging roles, which mitigates the perceived daring of this latest performance. Babygirl is ultimately a disappointing erotic drama that, for me, lacked heat, better character development, and a surprising or insightful plot. In short, Babygirl comes up short where it counts.

Nate’s Grade: C+