Nicole Kidman Lets Loose

She's having a grand old time playing wealthy matriarchs on the verge of blowing their lives up.

- ALISON WILLMORE

THE FIRST TIME ROMY, the high-flying tech she-E-O played by Nicole Kidman in Babygirl, sees Samuel (Harris Dickinson), the intern she'll have an affair with, he's bringing an unruly dog to heel. Romy is headed to the office when the overexcited animal gets away from its owner and starts charging down the sidewalk right at her. Then Samuel steps up and summons the dog back in his direction with a show of easy dominance that ends with a caress and the praise "Good girl." The gesture hits Romy like a lightning bolt, but Kidman doesn't act the way you'd expect for a character who has just been poleaxed by desire. Instead, she stares at Dickinson with a shock more befitting someone who's been told they only have a month to live-frozen in place, lips parted, eyes open wide. Kidman may be immaculate in an outfit composed of tasteful pearl-gray layers, looking every bit the successful executive whose domestic life is equally perfect, but the expression on her face in this moment is borderline comical. It's a delightfully off-kilter choice for an erotic meet-cute, emphasizing not the sultriness of the encounter but how stricken Romy is to find herself undone by the sight of a 20-something petting a dog.