'Babygirl' review: Nicole Kidman stars in gender-flipping erotic thriller

Early in "Babygirl," a wife springs a surprise on her husband during foreplay. Romy (Nicole Kidman), a no-nonsense CEO, asks Jacob (Antonio Banderas) to cover her face with a pillow. He’s eager to please — but it’s just too weird for him. "I can’t like this," he says, laughing. "I feel like a villain."

Jacob’s a great guy — brilliant playwright, sensitive husband, caring father of two — but Romy needs a villain. Where can she find someone willing to play her game, someone open-minded, nonjudgmental and noncommittal? There happens to be a handsome millennial, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), who works in her office. In fact, he’s her intern. And from the moment Samuel starts bossing his boss ("You shouldn’t drink coffee after lunch," he says sternly), we know Romy has found her man.

A female-focused response to the erotic thrillers of the 1980s and '90s — you know, the ones where a femme fatale leads a handsome patriarch around by his, uh, nose — "Babygirl" explores what happens when the genders are switched. And guess what? It turns out women can also be victims of their desires. As Romy risks her career and her family in pursuit of great (read: kinky) sex, I kept thinking about what Robert Loggia told Glenn Close in "Jagged Edge," way back in 1985: "Is that your head talking, or another part of your anatomy?"

Dutch writer-director Halina Reijn knows her genre (as an actor, she once worked under Paul Verhoeven, of "Basic Instinct" fame) but "Babygirl" is more psychological drama than thriller. Samuel is the one ordering Romy to get on all fours and drink from a bowl, but he’s also her employee. Then again, Romy is just one HR complaint away from catastrophe. So who’s the victim here? And does there have to be one? "That’s a dated idea of sexuality," Samuel says in what might be this movie’s thesis statement.

If you’re expecting classic BDSM cosplay — leather, latex, whips, etc. — you’ll be disappointed. Yes, Romy has a thing for dogs (an intriguing echo of "Nightbitch," this year’s other feminist genre-twist), but her kink is otherwise invisible. "There has to be something at stake," she explains. Kidman fully captures this complicated and conflicted woman: ice-cold, red-hot and heading for a meltdown.

A common critique of the old erotic thrillers is that they ultimately uphold the white male: He may take a bit of punishment for his bad behavior, but in the end he’s still on top. "Babygirl" cleverly flips that script, making a case that power knows no gender.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com@raferguzman