Babygirl, Halina Reijn’s riveting erotic thriller, leaves viewers questioning the true nature of power and control through the depiction of the relationship between Nicole Kidman’s Romy and Harris Dickinson’s Samuel. While Babygirl, one of A24’s highest-grossing movies, presents the surface-level narrative of a high-powered CEO’s forbidden affair, a closer look reveals a chilling possibility: Esme (Sophie Wilde), Romy’s seemingly submissive ᴀssistant, may have orchestrated the entire Babygirl‘s age gap affair.
This wild theory on TikTok suggests that Esme plays a dominant role in her relationship with Samuel and has him initiate the affair with Romy for her own gain. This theory starts with Esme being responsible for Romy entering the mentorship program. This would be characteristic of the movie’s power dynamics extending way beyond kink and even past the main characters, defying expectations to make Babygirl an erotic thriller audiences did not expect.
How Esme May Have Orchestrated Romy & Samuel’s Relationship In Babygirl
Esme Could Have Orchestrated The Conditions In Which Their Relationship Starts
As Romy is a CEO, it seems strange that she would be expected to be a part of the mentorship program, let alone be forced into it. However, Esme both hired Samuel and put Romy on the list. As Romy’s ᴀssistant, Esme also would have booked the meeting room, soundproof and away from everybody. These things paired point to Esme’s involvement in the movie’s central storyline.
Romy’s underlying vulnerability is something Esme could exploit.
Another moment that raises red flags is when Samuel turns up at Romy’s family home, risking everything in a tense Babygirl scene. He explains that Romy left her laptop at work and that Esme sent him over with it to hand it over in person, since a laptop can contain very sensitive information. This seems like a power play on Samuel’s part, but also Esme’s. The interaction makes it clear that Esme herself has been in possession of Romy’s laptop and highlights her access to sensitive details about Romy’s life.
Babygirl deals with vulnerability in several thoughtful ways. In a TED-talk-style corporate video, Romy states: “Never let them see your weakness.” Yet during a tipsy conversation at a work party, Romy tells Esme offhandedly about her cult background. Esme is surprised by this information, saying she had ᴀssumed she was raised by “soldiers” or “robots.” She claims she was joking, but it rings true, and she now knows another personal detail about her boss. Romy’s underlying vulnerability is something Esme could exploit.
Esme Gets What She Wants Out Romy’s Affair With Samuel Too
Esme Finally Gets Her Promotion At The End Of Babygirl
While the motivations of the characters in Babygirl are deliberately ambiguous, Esme’s goals are abundantly clear. Her desire for a promotion is reiterated at several intervals in the movie. Each time, she is pᴀssed over by Romy. She continually promises to revisit the conversation later, but Esme has to chase her at every turn. Each time Esme asks the same question, it seems like she is giving Romy another chance to prioritize her. However, near the end of the movie, Esme is able to harness Romy and Samuel’s relationship in her favor.
When Esme tells Romy she knows about her relationship with Samuel, she claims she has no interest in taking her down, but simply wants her promotion. However, another tell is that part of her deal is also that Romy will never see Samuel again. This points to Esme and Samuel being in a more serious relationship than either of them suggests. Esme directly benefits from Romy and Samuel’s affair, with her “discovery” (which she could have known all along) leading to her finally being able to progress in the company.
What Doesn’t Work About This Esme Babygirl Theory
Despite Esme’s Potential Culpability, It Could Be Romy In Control
However, there are a few ambiguities and holes in the Esme theory that conversely make Babygirl all the more disturbing. For example, one strange thing about the movie is how quickly Romy and Samuel’s relationship begins. This is later attributed to how Samuel can “read” people, which seems like a trait inherited from his father, a philosopher who worked for high-profile clients. This could be another hint at Samuel being hired to read Romy’s secret desires. However, the lack of buildup could just be a flaw in the movie’s pacing.
It is unclear how Esme would even know that Romy would be willing to have an affair. It could have simply been Romy calling the sH๏τs all along.
It is also unclear by Babygirl’s ending how much control Romy herself has over the situation. Romy’s comment that if she wanted to be humiliated she would pay someone to do it casts the movie in a different light. Interestingly, during Esme’s confrontation with Romy, she says how disappointed she is to see Romy fall short of her expectations of how a woman in power would behave. Her terms for her silence also have a scolding tone. This power exchange could all be part of the fantasy, being dressed down by her ᴀssistant.
The stakes in Babygirl are confusing; perhaps deliberately so, since the punishment or lack thereof is beside the point in the end. Romy seems genuinely afraid of losing her job and her family, but she also tells her husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas) that she needs to feel real danger, like things are at stake. It is unclear how Esme would even know that Romy would be willing to have an affair. It could have simply been Romy calling the sH๏τs all along.
This Babygirl Theory Puts The Entirety Of Romy & Samuel’s Relationship In A New Light
Babygirl Doesn’t Have A Clear-Cut Feminist Message
As well as the kink dynamics playing out in the movie, Babygirl seems to make a commentary on humanity, corporate culture, and power dynamics outside the bedroom. Esme’s ideas about how women in power should behave while she is using Romy’s personal life as leverage for her promotion are contradictory. Romy’s backstory concerning how she became a CEO also supports this complication of a feminist narrative, as Romy was hired for such a position because the company was looking for a “certain personality.“
Both of their use of language around protecting each other as professional women has a manipulative tone.
Paradoxically, Romy’s CEO position relies on a certain image — a “collaborator” and “nurturer” — while being so careful with her language that she is not even able to say the word “weakness” because, in the corporate world, using the word at all implies vulnerability. She has to be perceived in a certain way as a female professional while obliterating her genuine humanity. It is no accident that Romy discusses AI needing “emotional intelligence” to succeed when Romy develops more emotional intelligence throughout the movie.
This all ties into Esme’s potential involvement because Esme ranks below Romy. She looks up to her but ultimately, her focus is on her own progression in the company, and she emulates the behavior Romy models. Romy talking to Esme about her casual relationship with Samuel to “protect” her is a turning point because, in the end, Esme beats Romy at her own game. Both of their use of language around protecting each other as professional women has a manipulative tone, subverting expectations of women needing to be nurturers.
Esme and Romy exploit each other, which means there is no clear-cut feminist message in the movie. Crucially, the movie has baffled audiences because of its lack of commitment to an overall message, which is part of its appeal or frustration, depending on how viewers look at it. Overall, the movie is a character study about Romy’s struggle to find authenticity. Just like calculating how many balloons would fill a space, considering the practicalities of the situation detracts from the core journey of Babygirl.
Source: TikTok
