Honestly, it feels like everyone is talking about the same thing when it comes to Nicole Kidman lately. The "risk." The "fearlessness." We’ve heard these buzzwords for decades, but with her latest film, Babygirl, the conversation has shifted into something way more polarizing.
People are divided.
The movie, which hit U.S. theaters on December 25, 2024, before landing on Max in April 2025, isn't just another erotic thriller. It’s a weird, clinical, and sometimes deeply uncomfortable look at a high-powered CEO named Romy Mathis. She has the perfect life on paper: a massive Manhattan penthouse, a loving husband played by Antonio Banderas, and a robotics company to run. But she’s also spent about 19 years faking it in the bedroom. Then enters Samuel, played by Harris Dickinson, an intern who is roughly half her age and somehow smells her secret dissatisfaction from a mile away.
Why Babygirl is the Nicole Kidman Latest Film Everyone is Arguing Over
The internet is currently a battlefield over this one. If you look at the numbers, there is a massive gap between what the critics think and what the casual Friday-night viewer feels. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critics' score sits at a solid 76%, but the audience score plummeted to around 48% early on. Why? Well, a lot of it comes down to expectations.
Most people went in expecting 50 Shades of Grey or a modern Fatal Attraction. They wanted a high-stakes, "bunny boiler" thriller where someone gets stalked or murdered. Instead, director Halina Reijn gave them a satirical, kinky, and often awkward character study.
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It’s not "sexy" in the traditional Hollywood sense. It’s messy.
There’s a scene involving Kidman’s character and a bowl of milk that has basically become the defining "WTF" moment of the film. It’s meant to be a power play—a submissive act that flips the corporate hierarchy on its head—but for some viewers, it was just plain "icky."
The Power Dynamics and the "Female Gaze"
One of the biggest misconceptions about this Nicole Kidman latest film is that it’s just about an affair. It’s actually more about the shame of having "weird" desires when you’re supposed to be a serious, powerful woman. Romy is a boss at work, but she wants to be told what to do behind closed doors.
Harris Dickinson plays Samuel not as a romantic lead, but as a sort of "mind-reading lothario" who facilitates her breakdown. Some critics argue the film uses the "female gaze" because it focuses entirely on Romy’s internal experience. Others pointed out that there’s a lot of female nudity but very little from the male lead, which felt like a step backward for some.
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Anyway, Kidman won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for this. She’s clearly not slowing down. She’s 57 and still choosing roles that make people uncomfortable, which is kind of her superpower at this point.
What’s Next for Nicole Kidman in 2026?
If Babygirl was too dark for you, the good news is that she’s pivoting back to something much more nostalgic. We are finally getting Practical Magic 2.
It’s scheduled to hit theaters on September 18, 2026. Sandra Bullock is back as Sally, and Nicole is Sally’s wilder sister, Gillian. They’ve already started the hype train with Instagram teasers using the "tooth of wolf and morning dew" rhyme from the original 1998 movie.
But before that, we have Scarpetta.
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This is a massive TV project for Amazon Prime Video, launching March 11, 2026. Kidman is playing Kay Scarpetta, the famous forensic pathologist from Patricia Cornwell’s novels. Jamie Lee Curtis is playing her sister, Dorothy. If you like procedural dramas like CSI but want them with an Oscar-level cast, this is basically being built for that exact audience.
Assessing the Kidman "Risk"
Is this her best era? It’s hard to say. 2024 was a bit of a rollercoaster for her. While Babygirl got her awards buzz, her other projects like A Family Affair and the animated Spellbound didn't exactly set the world on fire with audiences.
The reality is that Kidman doesn't care about playing it safe. She’s at a point where she can do a prestige crime show for Amazon one month and a divisive A24 erotic thriller the next.
If you’re planning to watch her latest work, here is the best way to approach it:
- Watch Babygirl for the performance, not the plot. The story is a bit thin in the second half, and the ending is an "anticlimax" on purpose. It’s a character study, not a mystery.
- Keep an eye on the Scarpetta trailers. This looks like it will be her next Big Little Lies—a high-budget, addictive thriller that everyone will be talking about at the water cooler.
- Revisit the original Practical Magic. Since the sequel is coming in late 2026, now is the time to brush up on the Owens family curse.
Nicole Kidman is currently filming and producing at a pace that would exhaust someone half her age. Whether she's exploring corporate kinks or solving gruesome murders with Jamie Lee Curtis, she remains the most unpredictable actress in Hollywood.