Nicole Kidman returned to the screen for the sixth time in 2024 in Babygirl, an A24 erotic thriller directed and written by Bodies Bodies Bodies filmmaker Halina Reijn. The film explores themes of identity, desire, and the pressures of perfection—and hit theaters on December 25, just in time for the holidays.
The movie, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier in 2024, had already received widespread praise. Kidman’s performance earned her the Best Actress award in Venice, and Reijn was nominated for the festival’s highest honor, the Golden Lion. Kidman’s role as Romy also earned the actress her 17th Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.
In the film, Romy is a CEO who appears to have it all: a strong career, an attentive husband (Antonio Banderas), two teenage daughters (Esther McGregor and Vaughan Reilly), and a seemingly normal, healthy life. Yet under her perfect facade lies something far more complex, and her fantasies lead her into a risky affair with her younger intern (Harris Dickinson).
![cast of babygirl at venice film festival premiere 2024](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/david-hinojosa-sophie-wilde-antonio-banderas-nicole-kidman-news-photo-1734534888.pjpeg?resize=980:* ""Babygirl" Red Carpet - The 81st Venice International Film Festival")
Reijn shared with The Hollywood Reporter that Babygirl was originally set in the summer before a last-minute rewrite transformed it into a Christmas film. “I wrote it as a summer movie; it was all going to take place in the Hamptons and it was going to be on the beach,” she said. “Then the strike happened, of course it was pencils down and we had to wait, and then the schedule became Christmas. And I was like, ‘We should definitely make this into a Christmas movie,’ and after the strike, I just rewrote the whole thing to Christmas.”
Kidman, meanwhile, described the role as “a calling,” telling The Hollywood Reporter, “My character has reached a stage where she’s got all this power, but she’s not sure who she is or what she wants. It’s deeply human, and that’s what excited me.”
Is Babygirl streaming yet?
Although A24 has yet to announce an official streaming date for Babygirl, the film is expected to hit Max in 2025, given A24’s streaming partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Past A24 films, like The Iron Claw and Uncut Gems, have also landed on the platform.
In the meantime, you can still watch the film from home by purchasing or renting on-demand on Prime Video and Apple TV.
You can still enjoy the film in theaters.