Babygirl is like 50 Shades of Grey and all those toxic Netflix knock-offs… only its complicated, mature, and adult in ways those lesser films are not. It feels like it was written by someone who understands adults and adult desires… not a tourist like in 50 Shades, etc. I didn’t enjoy every bit of it, but I respected the hell out of it.

It stars Nicole Kidman as CEO of an automation company who wants something – anything – less robotic in her sex life. She’s married to Antonio Banderas who, in his younger days, would have been the guy she has an affair with. But instead, she starts up an affair with an intern thirty years younger (Harris Dickinson)… someone who can satisfy the kinks she says she’s ashamed of.

I mean, let’s be real here. Nicole Kidman is 57 years old and has magic DNA. She always bring it, but she brings it with an intensity that reminds me she’s not American with American hang-ups. Harris Dickinson is a guy I don’t know playing a character I was sure I was gonna hate. The type A asshole with the urge to dominate, disrespect, and sneer at women. But this isn’t that movie… he’s not that character.

Unlike a number of these types of films, this movie is complex. Kidman doesn’t just want a big strong man to order her around… she’s continuously aware of who she is and what she’s doing. Dickinson comes off as an over-confident asshole… but even he exposes a need for understanding, clarity, and warmth. These are not your typical stand-ins for this type of domineering romance/sexual encounter flick.

While I love its nuance, passion, and complexities, I wasn’t 100% on board the whole time. There’s a lot of screen time that didn’t have me fully engaged… I was a little scattered and bored through some of it. But not so much that the dialog, nuance, and camera work didn’t keep me engaged.

So it’s a bit of a mix in the long run… loved everything about the movie’s intelligence and passion except that it didn’t always have me engaged. It’s a very good, very nuanced look at fidelity, romance, sexual needs, power dynamics, and, above all, a complex understanding of adult relationships.

Score: 84