Naman Shrestha
Written, directed, and co-produced by Halina Reijn, ‘Babygirl’ is an erotic thriller drama movie starring Nicole Kidman portraying a high-ranking CEO named Romy Mathis who leads a picture-perfect life, thanks to her loving husband and thriving business. Her seemingly idyllic life turns upside down with the arrival of a charming intern named Samuel, whose captivating presence has a hold on her. As their suggestive conversations get more frequent and intense, Romy risks losing her business and family by getting into a steamy extramarital affair with her intern, who is much younger than her.
Through their forbidden affair, the movie also explores the complex power dynamics and sexuality within a workplace. Apart from Nicole, it also features stellar performances from Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde, and Antonio Banderas. Most of the story unfolds in closed spaces where the relationship between Romy and Samuel reaches new levels of intimacy.
Babygirl Filming Locations
The shooting for ‘Babygirl’ was carried out in New York, primarily in New York City. In addition, minor portions were also reportedly filmed in Long Island. According to reports, the original plan was to tape the movie in the summer of 2023, but the production was postponed due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Eventually, principal photography got underway in December 2023 and continued for a couple of months, before getting wrapped up by the end of February 2024.
New York City, New York
A majority of ‘Babygirl’ was lensed in New York City, also known as the Big Apple. In order to lens the scenes set in Romy’s office, the production team set up camp in the new A24 office at 31 West 27th Street on the 11th Floor in the Manhattan borough. Confirming the same, the cinematographer, Jasper Wolf, told Filmmaker Magazine, “…It proved to be tricky to find the right location for the office scenes. We had a clear vision of what we wanted, but it was hard to find a location that could match that. When A24 just moved offices in New York, it was tempting to shoot there. From a productional and logistic standpoint it would be very advantageous. We were also charmed by the identity of this office space, so ultimately it all came together quite nicely.”
The street scene in which Nicole Kidman’s character is attacked by a dog was seemingly taped on a street near the A24 office in New York City. The excessive amount of intimate scenes she performed with Antonio Banderas and Harris Dickinson took a lot out of her as they became extremely intense at times. She opened up about it in an interview with The Sun, “There were times when we were shooting where I was like, ‘I don’t want to orgasm any more. Don’t come near me. I hate doing this. I don’t care if I am never touched again in my life! I’m over it. It was so present all the time for me that it was almost like a burnout.'”
Although Lizzie Talbot was on set as the intimacy coordinator, Nicole and her costars did not limit themselves to what the coordinator told them. The fact that ‘Babygirl’ is helmed by a female director also helped Nicole stay relatively comfortable throughout the shoot. She said, “I don’t think I could have done it, working with a man… We talked about so many things that are secretive and vulnerable — but it’s safe.” The dancing scene of Harris’ character in a hotel room to George Michael’s “Father Figure” was done without any rehearsal whatsoever. Harris told Variety, “That was just me moving. Halina put the song and said, ‘Just dance.’ So I just had a little groove. Maybe I had a little whiskey before. But it was embarrassing.”
Long Island, New York
For shooting purposes, the filming unit of ‘Babygirl’ also traveled to Long Island, situated in the southeastern portion of New York state. In late January 2024, they took over the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum and turned the building into a film set and named it “Cold Spring.” A few scenes for the erotic drama film were also recorded on Shutter Lane and Cove Road in Oyster Road in February 2024.
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