Trigger warning: This article mentions sex and nudity
If Nicole Kidman’s role in the erotic thriller Babygirl wasn’t surprising enough, writer-director Halina Reason revealed that it may be a continuation of a role the actress previously played. It was none other than Alice Harford from the 1999 thriller mystery film Eyes Wide Shut.
In the Stanley Kubrick film, Kidman’s character Alice confides in her husband William (Tom Cruise) about a sexual fantasy she has about a man she saw while on vacation together. After this, Cruise’s character goes into a cycle involving a sex cult and murder.
However, Alice never acted on her imagination, which was something that made Reason curious to explore, so he came up with the idea of Babygirl. Comparing both the films, the director pointed out how they have a similar theme of monogamy.
“It’s about marriage; it’s about a marriage. What is a marriage and can you own someone else or do you have to set them free?” she told Entertainment Weekly. In Eyes Wide Shut, even though it was Kidman’s character who was conceived, the story follows Cruise’s character’s thoughts and motives, thereby ignoring the former.
“We are completely in his mind, heart and soul. I want to know, ‘What if she had gone off and actually lived out her fantasy?'” the director said before “humbly” presenting his latest film as an answer to those lingering questions.
Reason admitted that he used Alice’s fictional man to create Harris Dickinson’s character Samuel, the intern with whom Kidman’s Romy has an affair. He said, “It’s my playful revenge on all the movies made by men, where all these women are either femme fatales or Lolitas.”
He purposefully created the character of Samuel as a dreamy human being with a fairy tale introduction. So much so that sometimes it can leave viewers wondering whether he has passed out or Romi is merely imagining it. Rijn claimed that the entire film is therefore “an allegory for a larger sexual fantasy”.
The director admitted that she wanted to take creative liberties and make an erotic film with some actual nudity. “I’m playing with taboos and I’m provocative and want to provoke discussion about sexuality and freedom,” she said.
Babygirl will be released in theaters on December 25.
