Nicole Kidman‘s age-gap romance Babygirl has been billed as the sexiest film of the year which focuses on female desire as she embarks on an illicit affair.
Nicole’s character Romy is married to her husband of 19 years Jacob [Antonio Banderas] but is deeply unsatisfied with their sex life.
She finds what she has been searching for sexually in an intern at work, Samuel [Harris Dickinson], who she enters into a BSDM-style relationship with.
Samuel confronts Nicole’s deepest desires and takes control of their relationship in a way she has been lacking with her husband.
The sexually-charged film has been hit by controversy due to the age-gap between Nicole and Harris’ characters, with the film’s director forced to defend the choice.
The director behind the erotic thriller, Halina Reijn, has said she hopes her film will show that women are not ‘trapped in a box’ anymore and argued that having relationships with younger men should be ‘normalised’.
![The film begins with Romy having sex with her husband Jacob [Banderas], where she is seemingly enjoying herself until he reaches climax](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/08/11/93864115-14262351-image-m-15_1736334967053.jpg)
The film begins with Romy having sex with her husband Jacob [Banderas], where she is seemingly enjoying herself until he reaches climax
Opening scene
The film begins with Romy having sex with her husband Jacob, where she is seemingly enjoying herself until he reaches climax.
Romy is seen on top of her husband as they partake in the steamy session and tell each other they love one another.
However, as soon as he falls asleep she sneaks out of their bedroom to watch porn and ultimately reach orgasm herself.
During the film, viewers discover that Romy has not enjoyed an orgasm during the 19 years she has been with Jacob.
The opening scene is what many would call a ‘Hollywood orgasm’ or as Nicole refers to it – ‘pretty’. But she described her relationship with Samuel to Hollywood Reporter as far more ‘primal and realistic’.
She said: ‘Those ones may not look pretty or sound pretty. Or be what we think is pretty. That’s probably why we constantly say we need women in all areas of filmmaking, telling different stories.
‘It’s not just to be more fair. It’s actually because it’s kind of fascinating. And for people to feel, “I can be who I am.”
The electricity between Romy and Samuel is clear to see from the off as they tease each other with sexual quips and intense stares
When Romy tries to leave the room, Jacob blocks the door and in the heat of the moment the two lovers share their first kiss
First encounter with Samuel
The electricity between Romy and Samuel is clear to see from the off as they tease each other with sexual quips and intense stares.
Romy, who is Samuel’s mentor, arranges a meeting to discuss their mentee-mentor relationship within the company.
However, clearly not content with becoming the submissive in the relationship, Jacob tells her: ‘I think you like to be told what to do’.
When Romy tries to leave the room, Jacob blocks the door and in the heat of the moment the two lovers share their first kiss.
After pulling away Romy is deeply apologetic over the kiss.
Despite the fact the film has yet to be released in the UK, there is one scene in particular that has already set the internet ablaze
The milk scene
Despite the fact the film has yet to be released in the UK, there is one scene in particular that has already set the internet ablaze.
After their first kiss, Romy and Samuel attend an office happy hour and during the evening Samuel sends Romy over a glass of milk.
Romy realises who the drink has been sent by and locks eyes with Samuel across the bar before downing the whole glass in one.
Romy is the last to leave so she can pay her employees bar tab and Samuel hangs around until the bitter end as well.
And when Romy stays behind to pay the tab, Samuel leaves last, walking behind her and whispering ‘good girl’ as the Lacrimosa from Mozart’s Requiem plays.
Director Reijn has since revealed that the kinky scene was inspired by something that happened to her with a younger actor in a bar.
After their lustful exchange at the bar, Samuel invites Romy to a hotel room he has booked for them, marking the next intimate moment in the film
She attempts to leave but doesn’t make it out before hungrily kissing him, which he rejects before giving her sexual orders
Hotel room
After their lustful exchange at the bar, Samuel invites Romy to a hotel room he has booked for them, marking the next intimate moment in the film.
He invites Romy to meet him in the hotel room by leaving her a note.
Romy is seen waiting for her younger lover to arrive in the dirty hotel room, which horrifyingly features strangers’ hair on the bed.
Romy tries to call off their fling when he arrives at the hotel room and tells him that ‘what he is doing is wrong’.
She attempts to leave but doesn’t make it out before hungrily kissing him, which he rejects before giving her sexual orders.
He tells her to stand in the corner with her face to the wall, get on all fours, crawl to him and eat a candy out the palm of his hand, spit the candy back into his hand.
One of the steamiest sequences in the film is a montage of their sexual encounters, which is to INXS’s song, Never Tear Us Apart
A montage of their sex scenes
One of the steamiest sequences in the film is a montage of their sexual encounters, which is to INXS’s song, Never Tear Us Apart.
The montage skips between mundane moments in Romy’s life where she is working or in bed with her husband and daughters and her affair with Samuel.
These moments show her having sex against a wall in a stairwell, him breaking a mug in her office before commanding her to clean it up and kiss his shoes.
One of the steamiest sequences in the film is a montage of their sexual encounters, which is to INXS’s song, Never Tear Us Apart
Second hotel room
This time booked by Romy, the couple meet again at a fancier hotel room.
Samuel explores the room and shouts that there is a ‘whole other living room’ in the suite, in stark contrast to their first meeting in a scuzzy motel.
Samuel tells Romy to take off her clothes – a velvet orange gown – in front of him as they ‘make-up’ after previously fighting.
He had said earlier than he didn’t want a girlfriend ‘especially her’, because she’s a ‘mom’.
Samuel tells Romy to take off her clothes – a velvet orange gown – in front of him as they ‘make-up’ after previously fighting
At one point they have sex in a pool
The film’s director Reijn recently defended Nicole and Harris’ age gap in the erotic thriller.
In an interview with W Magazine, Reijn discussed the casting of her latest movie, which has notably garnered praise from both critics and audiences.
When the topic of age gaps in newer films such as Amazon Prime Video’s The Idea Of You was brought up, Halina stated, ‘If we see a movie where the male actor is the same age as the female actor, we find that odd.’
‘Which is insane. It should completely be normalized that the age gaps switch and that women have different relationships.’
Reijn continued, ‘We’re not trapped in a box anymore. We internalize the male gaze, we internalize patriarchy, and we need to free ourselves from it. It’s really hard.’
She further reflected on how she ended up casting both actors in Babygirl. The filmmaker revealed that the actress had reached out to her after seeing her movie Instinct (2019).
She explained Nicole ‘read a very early draft of Babygirl and immediately said, “I want to play that character.” She also said she wanted to surrender to it and not change a thing.’
‘That was important to me, because I knew I wrote something controversial and, at least for me, surrounded by shame. I needed someone to be as courageous as the script tries to be.’
Director Halina Reijn has defended Nicole Kidman, 57, and Harris Dickinson’s, 28, age gap in the erotic thriller, Babygirl; Kidman and Reijn seen earlier this month in Beverly Hills
She admitted that once Kidman ‘was on board, I woke up totally panicked. We had one of the best actors in the world.’
‘It’s impossible to find a young man who’s not only as good as her, but can dominate her. But then I saw Harris in Triangle Of Sadness. He’s so vulnerable, yet so masculine and macho. He’s kind of an ideal man, because he has all of these layers.’
The gruelling filming took its toll on Nicole, who admitted she was so turned on when shooting that at one point she had to pause filming.
And according to The Sun, in a revealing new interview Nicole said that performing the scenes with Harrison and Antonio Banderas, 64, as her husband, Jacob, was often too much to cope with.
Nicole started by saying: ‘There was an enormous amount of sharing and trust and then frustration. It’s like, “Don’t touch me”.
‘There were times when we were shooting where I was like, “I don’t want to orgasm any more”.
‘Don’t come near me. I hate doing this. I don’t care if I am never touched again in my life! I’m over it.
‘It was so present all the time for me that it was almost like a burnout.’
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