--- title: "Babygirl: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/babygirl/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/babygirl" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 19 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Babygirl (2024): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 19 reviews: 17 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics like Babygirl, and they like it for the same reasons. The praise goes first to Nicole Kidman, described again and again as fearless, vulnerable and in control of a performance that asks a great deal of her, and to Harris Dickinson, whose chemistry with her is singled out nearly everywhere. Reviewers also credit Reijn for treating the affair without shame or punishment, and for keeping the sex awkward and uncertain rather than expert. The reservations cluster around what surrounds the bedroom: several critics find the workplace material and the ideas about power less convincing than the scenes of desire, and a few think the film safer than it pretends to be. The Guardian calls it expertly done but suspect at its core; The Wrap finds it genteel; Paste thinks it more reassuring than provocative. The spread is otherwise narrow, with one outright dissent, Collider, which finds it superficial and exploitative of Kidman. ## The AV Club — Anna McKibbin Rating A. 3 September 2024. Festival review. The film brilliantly captures the feeling of falling in lust through a feature-length homage to the early rush of attraction and radically charged encounters. It singles out Reijn's empathy for every character and the relief and revelation in Kidman's expressions during sexual discovery without punishment or judgment. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/babygirl-review) ## Empire — Beth Webb Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 January 2025. Reijn weaves a complex tapestry of desire, power and humour that avoids genre conventions. Kidman delivers a gutsy, no-holds-barred performance in a fiercely erotic, nuanced and raucously funny exploration of carnal desire. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/babygirl/) ## The Independent Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 9 January 2025. The film is unabashedly and giddily sexy thanks to committed performances from Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson. Reijn crafts a BDSM story full of fumbling uncertainty rather than assured expertise, letting the characters feel their way through desire. [Read the review](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/babygirl-nicole-kidman-review-b2676348.html) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 7 September 2024. Festival review. It is the year’s hottest movie, an unabashedly indulgent adventure into self-discovery with giddy deliriousness and startlingly private eroticism. The review singles out Dickinson's magnetic presence and Kidman's shift from overachieving matron to someone shocked by her own desires. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-babygirl-might-just-be-the-years-hottest-movie.html) ## Little White Lies — Hannah Strong Rating 3/4/4. 9 January 2025. Reijn delivers intelligent, elegant adult filmmaking that handles complex themes of desire, power and consent with nuance, empathy and candour; the strong chemistry between Kidman and Dickinson is singled out as stratospheric. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/babygirl) ## Los Angeles Times — Amy Nicholson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 24 December 2024. The critic calls it a thorny pleasure that tests sexual ethics and power dynamics through a hot, consent-focused age-gap affair, with empathy for the protagonist's complexities. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-12-24/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-antonio-banderas-harris-dickinson) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 2024. Festival review. The film is a perverse, juicy erotic thriller about a woman coming to accept her full spectrum of desires without shame or judgment. It singles out the skilled navigation of tricky challenges by the actors, especially Kidman's physical and psychological fearlessness. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-harris-dickinson-antonio-banderas-halina-reijn-1235987888/) ## The i Paper — Christina Newland Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 January 2025. Babygirl offers a subversive, sexy depiction of the messy and contradictory reality of female desire, flipping expected power dynamics in a BDSM affair. It is a fantastic, complex portrait that celebrates pure sexual enjoyment without neat feminist explanations. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/sex-feminist-babygirl-finally-3467126) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 30 August 2024. Festival review. The film is a deliciously barbed yet wise and hopeful investigation of female sexual desire and power dynamics, succeeding with magnificent performances from Kidman and Dickinson that make the erotic elements fresh and committed. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/babygirl-review-2024) ## Slant Magazine Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 7 September 2024. Festival review. It is a true comedy of remarriage in spirit that puts the 'screw' in screwball, with honesty as the bedrock of carnal connection. The review singles out the mutual rule-making and embodied performances that synthesize contradictory roles without compartmentalizing them. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-harris-dickinson/) ## IndieWire — Ryan Lattanzio 25 December 2024. Kidman is all raw nerve in a sexy provocation that makes no moral judgments and instead celebrates sex for what it is and can be. The review highlights the kinky, sex-positive S&M dramedy elements centered on debasement and desire. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-1235041886/) ## Radio Times Rating ★★★★☆. 2 September 2024. It is a slick, professional piece of work that gets people talking, arguing and flirting about desire and consent, with strong turns from Kidman and Dickinson, though it stops short of fully exploring psychological extremes. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/app/babygirl-review-a-film-to-get-people-talking-arguing-and-flirting/) ## Screen Daily 30 August 2024. Festival review. The erotic drama works better in the bedroom than the boardroom, with excellent chemistry and performances from Kidman and Dickinson, but its larger ideas about workplace sexism and sexual shame do not burn as hot. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/babygirl-venice-review/5196697.article) ## Sight and Sound 8 January 2025. The critic praises the film's witty exploration of female desire and subversive avoidance of moral punishment for the protagonist's kinks, highlighting the strong chemistry between leads and Kidman's committed performance. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/babygirl-nicole-kidman-harris-dickinson-sizzle-sly-playful-erotic-drama) ## The Guardian 30 August 2024. Festival review. Reijn’s film about a company executive’s carnal adventure with her intern is expertly done but suspect at its core, despite Kidman’s bold performance. It has useful things to say about inter-office dynamics and sexual desire but delivers them with clipped, perky professionalism and machine-tooled thrills. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/30/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-overwhelmed-by-lust-as-ceo-having-torrid-and-toxic-affair) ## Variety — Owen Gleiberman Rating Critic's Pick. 30 August 2024. Festival review. The critic praises Kidman's fearless performance in this erotic drama about a CEO's transgressive affair, highlighting its honest take on women's desires in a controlled corporate world. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2024/film/reviews/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-venice-film-festival-1236124700/) ## The Playlist — Rafa Sales Ross Rating A-. 30 August 2024. Festival review. The film sizzles as a feminist rereading of the erotic thriller, with Kidman and Dickinson delivering brilliant, charged performances that explore desire, consent and generational dynamics without moral judgment. Reijn crafts some of the hottest sex scenes in recent major cinema while satirizing political correctness. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-harris-dickinson-sizzle-in-halina-reijns-erotic-drama-venice-20240830/) ## Deadline — Damon Wise Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 2024. Festival review. The review praises Kidman’s dedicated and vulnerable performance in this sexually charged story. Reijn creates an extraordinary atmosphere with frank exploration of female desire and power dynamics. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2024/08/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-movie-1236074089/) ## /Film — BJ Colangelo Rating 8/10. 2 December 2024. An intelligent erotic exploration where Kidman is in complete control, delivering a vulnerable yet feral performance that highlights the pleasure of relinquishing power on her own terms. The film avoids formulaic traps of past erotic thrillers through its cerebral take on self-expression and fulfillment. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/1720099/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-a24/) ## Film Stories — James Harvey Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 9 January 2025. The critic finds it a very smart film uninterested in easy answers, using its central dynamic to explore power and sexual politics with confidence. Kidman and Dickinson deliver standout performances in a funny, entertaining take on thorny issues, despite some pacing problems in the second act. [Read the review](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/babygirl-review-hot-under-the-white-collar/) ## NME — Nick Levine Rating 4/5. 8 January 2025. The critic finds the film a funny, fascinating erotic thriller with sharp, slippery writing that explores power dynamics more cleverly than Fifty Shades of Grey. Kidman and Dickinson deliver terrific, brave performances in a mix of audacious setpieces and provocative moments. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/babygirl-review-nicole-kidman-sex-50-shades-3827207) ## The Skinny — Anahit Behrooz Rating 4/5. 6 January 2025. The critic calls the film audacious, sexy and deliciously smart, one of the most welcome recent entries in the erotic thriller canon. It excels at tangling power hierarchies and showing that desire and transgression go hand in hand. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/babygirl) ## Eye for Film — Andrew Robertson Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 10 January 2025. Reijn's film is rewarding because it challenges its subjects and audience with a graphic, aware exploration of unmet needs and power imbalances. It balances strong performances and precise details with occasional hesitation around its sex-positive themes. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/babygirl-2024-film-review-by-andrew-robertson) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 2024. Festival review. The critic finds “Babygirl” a surprisingly genteel and safe take on kink, more commercial dom-com than edgy thriller. Kidman’s performance stands out for its vulnerability and control. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/babygirl-nicole-kidman-review/) ## Collider — Martin Tsai Rating 3/10. 30 August 2024. The critic finds the film a noxious and superficial portrait of power struggles in an inappropriate relationship that fails to deliver nuance or humanity, exploiting Nicole Kidman more than expected and lacking the depth of comparable works by Catherine Breillat. [Read the review](https://collider.com/babygirl-movie-review/) ## Paste — Jesse Hassenger Rating 5.8. 23 December 2024. The critic praises Nicole Kidman's fearless and technically skilled performance as a high-powered CEO exploring submissive desires, highlighting strong early scenes depicting sexual incompatibilities in her marriage. However, the film is criticized as ultimately basic and melodramatic, more interested in instruction and reassurance than in genuinely provocative exploration of kinks. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/nicole-kidman/babygirl-movie-review-2024-nicole-kidman-harris-dickinson) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/babygirl.md