Nicole Kidman’s Romy: 🙈
Always fun when Kidman really sinks into a role. What an interesting companion to her Alice Harford from Eyes Wide Shut. But the stakes never feel all that high, which undercuts the risk that Nicole Kidman’s Romy is supposed to feel. It feels like the script and the direction hold back, which is curious for a film about giving in to one’s deepest desires. (Unless that desire is for control?). I found it interesting and funny, but only slightly erotic and not all that thrilling (Angelica Jade Bastién’s piece on it is essential reading). When the bottom drops out the fall is cushioned by wealth.
Still: as expected for an A24 film there are beautiful visuals. I enjoyed the self-care (penance?) montage of Romy: at the spa, at Botox treatments, at EMDR therapy (love the tight shot of Nicole’s face lit by light pulses). The nightclub scene. “Father Figure”, where the camera feels slightly drunk and lingers on a body in motion.
Sophie Wilde’s Esme is Tyra Banks’ “we were all rooting for you” meme in person form.