Halina Reijn on Bridging Hollywood’s “Orgasm Gap” With Nicole Kidman Thriller ‘Babygirl’

Halina Reijn desires to bridge Hollywood’s “orgasm gap.”

“It’s huge! Huge!” the Dutch actress-turned-director exclaims, gesticulating wildly over our Zoom name to debate her new movie, Babygirl. “In Hollywood movies, we still see women having orgasms that are physically just not possible, at least for 99 percent of women!”

The orgasms in Babygirl, which premieres on the Venice Movie Competition, it’s protected to say, might be extra life like. And there might be loads of them. After her U.S. debut, the Gen Z slasher satire Our bodies Our bodies Our bodies (2022), Reijn returns to the extra erotic tones of her first characteristic, the 2019 Dutch drama Intuition, which chronicled a bootleg relationship between a jail therapist and an incarcerated intercourse offender.

Babygirl stars Nicole Kidman as a high-powered CEO married to the age-appropriate and undeniably-sexy Jakob (Antonio Banderas) who embarks on a forbidden romance with a a lot youthful intern, performed by Triangle of Disappointment and Iron Claw star Harris Dickinson. A24, which was behind Our bodies Our bodies Our bodies, and launched Intuition within the U.S., is planning a Dec. 20 bow for Babygirl.

Forward of the movie’s Venice premiere, Reijn talked with The Hollywood Reporter about giving a feminist spin on the Nineteen Nineties erotic thriller, the politics of the post-#MeToo period, and bringing intercourse again to the films. “As a consumer, sometimes I just want to see a hot, sexy movie with hot people that turns me on a little bit.”

I actually liked your U.S. debut Our bodies, Our bodies Our bodies, however this movie appears quite a bit nearer, thematically, to your first Dutch movie, Intuition. Does it really feel extra provocative exploring these themes in a giant American context, versus a Dutch arthouse movie?

I imply, we’re all human, and we’re all struggling kind of with the identical issues. However in fact, in America, it’s a sort of heightened even, as a result of right here persons are somewhat extra repressed, in my eyes, than within the Netherlands. However for me, what is particular about this movie is that it’s actually about self-love, whereas Intuition was actually about self-destruction, After we have been taking pictures Black Guide [in which Reijn co-starred] Paul Verhoeven informed me: ‘When you direct, you always have to be answering a question.’ With Intuition, the query was: Why do I do issues that I do know are unhealthy for me, however I nonetheless do them? Why is there a beast inside this civilized particular person?

With Babygirl, the query was: How can I like all components of myself? As a result of I just like the components of myself which can be accepted by society, however I detest components of myself, am embarrassed by components that aren’t. I wished to make a film to inform myself that intercourse is one thing that we will rejoice and luxuriate in. As an alternative of considering: ‘Oh, my God, why do I have all these taboo, forbidden fantasies?’ That is actually the story of a girl who liberates herself.

How does sexuality and the movie’s different themes play out in a different way in an American context?

Nicely, to begin with, and that is what I discovered so enjoyable doing Our bodies Our bodies Our bodies, is that every little thing’s larger in America. Whether or not you order a cola or hamburger, whenever you’re strolling down the road, it’s all a lot larger than in Europe. So I actually wished to make a film with an enormous scale. Which is why Nicole Kidman is ideal for the movie. Since you don’t get any larger than her. She performs this very highly effective CEO of a robotics firm. And the affair that takes place is within the office, the place, in America, lower than in Europe, there’s an actual hierarchy and much more guidelines about what’s allowed and what’s not allowed. Which heightens the sense of an affair like this being actually forbidden, actually taboo.

It’s fascinating you point out Verhoeven as a result of it looks like this movie is drawing on these 90s erotic thrillers that he helped make well-known.

I used to be extremely impressed by all of the sexual thrillers of the 90s: Fundamental Intuition, Deadly Attraction, 9 1/2 Weeks, Indecent Proposal, not solely as a result of they entertained me on the time, but additionally as a result of I felt actually seen by them, weirdly, although they have been all directed by males and had a typically not-too-friendly view of girls. However I felt very seen by these films as a result of as a girl with my needs, I all the time felt like an alien. And people films sort of informed me that these darker needs have been okay, although, on the finish of the film, the girl principally will get punished. This movie is my reply, my feminine reply, to these movies. It’s actually in dialog with these movies and appears with a little bit of humor on the male gaze. I’m exploring the problems of energy and intercourse in our present second, however to have a little bit of enjoyable with it too.

How is it totally different to inform these tales within the post-#MeToo period?

Nicely, I feel we now have made an enormous bounce ahead because the 90s so far as feminism and inclusion and all of that, is anxious and that’s all extremely constructive. I feel the rationale that I’m in a position to direct now could be due to that as a result of there’s house for girls now. However once I assume again about these ’90s movies, they have been about need and I don’t assume there are quite a lot of American movies which were made about feminine need, feminine sexuality. I feel that’s fairly new, and I feel there’s nonetheless quite a lot of concern round that. There’s nonetheless an enormous orgasm hole, big! It’s gotten higher on TV however in films, in larger Hollywood films, we nonetheless see girls having orgasms which can be bodily simply not potential, a minimum of for 99 % of girls. I wished to make an enormous, tremendous entertaining juice movie about sexuality, however be very trustworthy about it.

These movies, the erotic thrillers, you point out, sort of disappeared from the American film scene.

In cinema, sexuality simply disappeared. [Basic Instinct director] Paul Verhoeven is all the time complaining about that: “Where’s the sex in American films?” Now with Challengers and Saltburn, it’s coming again somewhat bit, nevertheless it had been absent from mainstream cinema for a very long time.

It simply appeared like we turned very afraid of sexuality. However I feel there’s a normal want and a starvation for it – a necessity to take a look at intercourse in an trustworthy approach and to see the humor in it. We now have all these new guidelines about consent, that are superb and tremendous essential. However on the similar time, we’re nonetheless animalistic, and we have to nonetheless have a look at that a part of ourselves. I feel that’s the place this urge comes from to make these films.

As a shopper, typically I simply wish to see a sizzling, attractive film with sizzling folks that turns me on somewhat bit. This isn’t mushy porn. We’re actually attempting to make a layered and fascinating film, however on the similar time, we would like it to be attractive. In Europe, there have been all the time smaller films about these topics, however by no means these larger films. So I welcome it again. I feel it’s superb, and I feel it’s joyous to sit down in a cinema with 300 individuals and watch a really attractive film. I can’t consider something extra enjoyable than that.