Tag: nicole-kidman

Holland (2025)

  • Director: Mimi Cave
  • Screenplay: Andrew Sodorski
  • Cast: Nicole Kidman, Gael García Bernal, Matthew Macfadyen, Jude Hill
  • Cinematography: Pawel Pogorzelski
  • Editing: Martin Pensa
  • Score: Alex Somers
  • Genre: Psychological thriller
  • Runtime: 108 minutes

Ah, Holland. Tulips aplenty, windmill blades rotating indefatigably, clogs adorn people’s feet. Oh, this isn’t the Holland you’re thinking of. This is Holland, Michigan – a city founded by Dutch Protestants upon arrival in the area in the mid 1800s. A place proud of its heritage, the traditions of their forefathers are still upheld by 21st century residents.

One of these customs is the annual Tulip Time Festival, celebrating the Dutch flower with a costumed parade. In small town America, any excuse to let your hair down isn’t taken – not when so many neighbourhood eyes are watching you and there’s the constant pressure to keep up appearances. Fred and Nancy Vandergroot are notable members of their community – Fred (Macfadyen) is an optometrist whilst Nancy (Kidman) teaches at the local school. They live the picture-perfect existence (cue whimsical score) with their son Harry (Jude Hill, the breakout performance of 2021’s ‘Belfast‘).

Fred takes frequent trips away with ‘work’ so naturally, Nancy gets suspicious of his whereabouts. “Is he having an affair?”, she wonders to her fellow teacher Dave (García Bernal), who she ropes in to help her with an investigation. Nancy and Dave’s *ahem* closeness threatens to overshadow the central mystery but we’re soon back on track looking for clues.

The setting is the year 2000 (as evidenced by pagers and box televisions) but there’s an overhanging feeling of something even more retro (as if 2000 could be considered vintage anyway, don’t make me feel old); Holland has this 60s Americana vibe to it – the town time forgot. Nancy worked so hard to fit in here that doing anything out of line might erase her oh-so-perfect life. It’s no wonder she’s plagued by gloriously hallucinatory nightmares.

Quirkily shot through the use of Fred’s train set and replica model of Holland, Mimi Cave’s film is like a weathered thriller novel; a little frayed at the edges, maybe the last page has been torn out yet it’s worth a read just the same.

My rating: 6 / 10

Babygirl (2024)

  • Director: Halina Reijn
  • Screenplay: Halina Reijn
  • Cast: Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Sophie Wilde, Antonio Banderas
  • Cinematography: Jasper Wolf
  • Editing: Matthew Hannam
  • Score: Cristobal Tapia de Veer
  • Genre: Erotic thriller
  • Runtime: 115 minutes

In her second ‘cougar’ role in the past 12 months (the other being ‘A Family Affair‘), Nicole Kidman is Romy Mathis, a high-up CEO of a tech firm (which concerns itself with reducing the number of human factory workers in favour of robots etc., a minor detail). She has a swanky apartment, two daughters and a loving husband (Antonio Banderas). Yet this obviously isn’t enough for her – he doesn’t satisfy her sexually. Along comes an intern half her age, Samuel (Harris Dickinson), who awakens the kinky side she’d never thought she’d get to indulge in. He holds the keys – one little phone call would bring her world crashing down. For Romy, the threat is the allure.

‘Babygirl‘ does not strike me as a ‘feminist’ piece of filmmaking – sure, Romy has agency; she could risk everything and walk away. Alas, she opts to degrade herself, getting on all fours and drinking milk out of a saucer on the floor of a seedy hotel (weird kink but okay). She’s ultimately doing this because ‘the man’ in this situation orders her to. It was her choice to cross that line and betray her husband’s trust in the first place though. I find my sympathy for Romy severely limited; maybe she’s into humiliation but dishonouring her marriage vows isn’t sexy.

I’m no prude – but the sexual content made me uncomfortable. I guess I’m vanilla. In that case, Romy must be triple chocolate chip with a Cadbury Flake on top. Still compelling nevertheless, perhaps since I was eager to see if her life would implode.

And if we’re talking about stiff things in the bedroom, have you seen Nicole Kidman’s face? Yikes.

My rating: 6 / 10