Everything we know about A24’s erotic thriller ‘Babygirl’, starring Nicole Kidman and Antonio Banderas

It seems that (finally) the tables are turning: on-screen love stories between older men and uncomfortably young women are being swapped out for films about hot older ladies and their youthful beaus. It’s evidenced in films like Todd Hayne’s May December, and now Babygirl, the latest film on A24’s roster. Scheduled to start filming in New York this coming December, Babygirl is purportedly an erotic thriller that will follow a CEO who begins a sordid affair with her “much younger” intern. 

The CEO is set to be played by Nichole Kidman, who in 2021 got her fifth Oscar nomination for her performance as Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos. Playing her intern-stroke-lover is Harris Dickinson, who recently starred in Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper, and who we’ll be seeing in another A24 film, The Iron Claw, very shortly. 

Also making appearances in Babygirl is Antonio Banderas, who you’ll know from Zorro if you’re mentally sound, and The Skin I Live In if you’re not. There’s also Sophie Wilde, the star of A24 horror Talk to Me, and Jean Reno, who you’ll likely know from 90’s classic Léon: The Professional. 

Most importantly, writing and directing the film is Halina Reijn, with Babygirl marking her second collaboration with the cult production company. Her first, Bodies Bodies Bodies, a zeitgeist-y horror starring Bottoms’ Rachel Sennott, earned her a nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards for directing. 

While Babygirl’s production schedule means it probably won’t be hitting our screens for a decent while, there’s plenty to watch to get yourself in the mood in the meantime. If you’ve already seen Bodies Bodies Bodies (which is worth a watch for Sennott’s podcast monologue alone) pop on Reijn’s first film Instinct. Following a prison therapist that becomes obsessed with one of her patients, it should give you an idea of the kind of flavour we can expect from Babygirl.