It’s a 9/12 Weeks for the modern age. It is a world people involved in it understand and know very well. Babygirl is part of the lingo of the dom/fem dynamic, along with “good girl” and “daddy.” It’s the kind of dirty fun we don’t get in movies in our puritanical age. When the movie played in Venice there were grumbles. The Me Too era has meant women must always be the victims and men always the predators. But what if a woman is into it?
They can explore this dynamic safely with an older woman and a younger man. If it was an older man and a younger woman with the dom/sub dynamic, I imagine there would be hell to pay. But this is allowed, for th emost part. A way to slowly ease a freaked out culture out of the Me Too era. I don’t know if it’s Oscar-tastic, but hey, Diane Lane got in for Unfaithful. All it takes are a few great reviews and critics’ awards to get there.
However, this film was directed by a woman, Halina Reijn, and Kidman has said multiple times that she never felt “exploited.” Oh, the discourse on this one is going to be fun-not-fun.
Here is the trailer.
And poster: