redgaming In ‘Babygirl,’ Nicole Kidman Wants Him. But What Does Harris Dickinson Want?

With the right actor, ambivalence can be enticing. If you can’t tell whether or not someone wants something, you lean forward. There’s suspense.

Ambivalence is part of the allure when it comes to Harris Dickinson, the British actor who first broke out with the 2017 indie “Beach Rats,” in which he played a sexually confused Brooklyn teenager. You were never quite certain what the character wanted and maybe he didn’t know, either. But because of that, and because Dickinson is the type of actor to never overplay his hand, even watching him do something small had you on tenterhooks.

Now 28, Dickinson has found the ideal vehicle for his stock in trade. In the new film “Babygirl,” he plays Samuel, an intern caught up in a risky affair with his married boss, Romy (Nicole Kidman). Their sexual chemistry is based on a dominant/submissive dynamic, though who has the most power is unclear: Romy has dominion over him in the workplace but in the bedroom, Samuel calls the shots.

Or at least, he’s supposed to. Part of the fun of “Babygirl” is that Samuel is not some steely sexual manipulator out of “Fifty Shades of Grey”: This wayward young man is making it up as he goes along. After commanding Romy to get on her knees, he might second-guess himself and apologize to her. Even Samuel’s more decisive commands can be a bit loopy: At a crowded bar, he orders a tall glass of milk and instructs Romy to drink it. Milk? Well, I guess there are no bad ideas when you’re brainstorming.

ImageOpposite Nicole Kidman in “Babygirl.” Harris Dickinson’s been in other movies that popped but this is the first one he’s popped in.Credit...Niko Tavernise/A24

Precisely because Samuel is tough to pin down — and because, when he’s revved up, he might try to pin you down — the performance is beguiling and sexy, the sort of star turn that could become the cornerstone of a career. Dickinson has been in movies that popped, like “Triangle of Sadness” and “The Iron Claw,” but that’s not the same thing as popping yourself. “Babygirl” is likely to change that: After its August premiere at the Venice Film Festival made Dickinson the most lusted-after man on the Lido, Vulture ran an article musing that the movie had given Dickinson “something invaluable for a young actor,” a star image.

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“As anyone with a family — or a chosen family — knows, you are never alone in service, Dr. Vasan said in a statement. “My wife and three young children have served alongside me, bearing the brunt of my absence and shouldering so much. I’m grateful for their love and have chosen that now it is time to support them and their well-being.”

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