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ByJeremy SmithandSlashFilm Staff
The erotic thriller is back, and you'd have to be a prudish killjoy to lament its return.
The subgenre has its roots in the pre-Code movies of the 1920s, and '30s and film noirs of the '40s and '50s, but the formula as it exists today was codified in 1980 with Paul Schrader's "American Gigolo" and,most vitally, Brian De Palma's "Dressed to Kill."And thanks to Karina Longworth's deep dive into best and worst of the subgenre via her indispensable podcast "You Must Remember This," younger viewers who weren't there for the '80s and '90s heyday are now revisiting the stylish highs and Skinemax lows of films in which people occasionally take a break from screwing to commit a string of murders (or investigate said murders with alarming aloofness).
After a much less sexy era in the 2000s,critics have come back around on the subgenre, possibly because the new practitioners are taking a more intellectual approach. Chloe Domont's "Fair Play" and Zachary Wigon's "Sanctuary" are cleverly plotted thrillers that arouse by teasing. So we're curious to see what Halina Reijn does with her forthcoming erotic thriller "Babygirl." The "Bodies Bodies Bodies" director has gone old-school sexy with the casting, but she strikes us as more of a satirist. What should we expect from her third feature? Here's what we know thus far.
When does Babygirl premiere?
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The year 2024 has been a fun one for A24, with exciting releases such as "I Saw the TV Glow," "Love Lies Bleeding," and "Civil War." The studio has even more wild films scheduled for the upcoming months, a la "The Front Room," "A Different Man," and "Heretic." But when exactly will we see "Babygirl?" Well, director Halina Reijn began shooting the film back in December 2023, and a year later, the erotic thrills will play out on the big screen. The upcoming Nicole Kidman film will hit theaters on December 20, 2024, where it will compete against the very different "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and "Mufasa: The Lion King." Talk about counterprogramming.
What are the plot details of Babygirl?
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According to Variety, the film "examines power dynamics and sexuality in the workplace" (which Domont's "Fair Play" did as well). The narrative centers on a powerful CEO (Nicole Kidman) who pursues a sexual relationship with a young male intern (Harris Dickinson). It sounds as though both characters are wily operators, so perhaps Halina Reijn could deliver a non-risible version of Barry Levinson's "Disclosure" (the ridiculousness of which derived directly from author Michael Crichton). There's also some marital infidelity involved, which could allow Reijn to riff on one of the most successful erotic thrillers of all time, Adrian Lyne's "Fatal Attraction."
We just hope Reijn is as gleeful with the bloodletting here as she was with "Bodies Bodies Bodies." Wanton violence isn't a necessity for a classic erotic thriller, but we like 'em lurid, so it'd be a blast to see Reijn indulge her inner De Palma. However, we do know that the movie will intentionally be subverting some erotic thriller tropes. Alberto Barbera — the artistic director of the Venice Film Festival, where the film will premiere — spoke to Variety about the movie and revealed, "It's about a sadomasoch*stic relationship within an American corporation with the novelty that, compared to other similar films, the ending actually testifies to the differences between now and the past. A film on this same theme 20 or 30 years ago would have ended very differently. Without spoilers, I will say that the female protagonist who engages in illicit behavior, so to speak, in the past would have been punished."
Who is in the cast of Babygirl?
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We know Nicole Kidman will play the CEO, and that Harris Dickinson (who was sensational in Ruben Östlund's "Triangle of Sadness" and just as good in Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij's streaming series "A Murder at the End of the World") will co-star as the object of her unfaithful affection. Antonio Banderas is set to portray Kidman's husband –- which is amusing because, early in his career, he would've been at or near the top of the casting wish list for the young hunk.
Sophie Wilde, who broke out as the tormented protagonist of the 2023 sleeper horror hit "Talk to Me," has been cast as Kidman's observant assistant (good potential for blackmail there), while French acting legend Jean Reno of "Leon: The Professional" and so much more is on board as an executive rival of Kidman's. This is a killer ensemble, which speaks well to the quality of the screenplay.
Who is the director and writer of Babygirl?
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Long before she became a filmmaker, Halina Reijn carved out a prolific career as one of the Netherlands' most celebrated actors. She studied at the prestigious Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts, and she's worked steadily in theater, film, and television for 30 years. Movie-wise, she's probably best known to American audiences as the hissably venal Ronnie in Paul Verhoeven's World War II action-drama "Black Book" and as Margarethe von Oven, the real-life Nazi secretary who aided in the failed plot to kill Adolf Hitler, in Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie."
Reijn made her feature filmmaking debut with 2019's "Instinct," a disturbing drama about a therapist (Carice van Outen) who falls for a jailed serial rapist (Marwan Kenzari) in her care. She also served as a writer and producer on the Dutch television series "Red Light" (on which she also co-starred) before trying her luck in the United States with the pitch-dark satire "Bodies Bodies Bodies" for A24.
A24 is known for cultivating directors with non-studio tastes (like Ari Aster), and if she knocks out another critical/commercial hit with "Babygirl," it's likely she'll be a member of the company's filmmaking stable for a long time to come. On the writing side of things,it appears that "Babygirl" will represent Reijn's first solo screenwriting credit. Previously, she co-wrote "Instinct" with Esther Gerristen and worked from Sarah DeLappe's ingenious script on "Bodies Bodies Bodies."Two films is a small sample size, but thus far, it's fair to conclude that Reijn is a fan of relentlessly dark material.
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