Just one month after “Glicked” graced our screens, another double-feature creature came crawling into cinemas this Christmas: “Babyratu.”
These recent double bills follow in the giant pink-heeled footsteps of the anomalous phenomenon that was “Barbenheimer” in July 2023. A portmanteau of BABYGIRL and NOSFERATU, Babyratu has its father’s eyes (dead, brooding) and its mother’s love of milk. Fortunately, both of these films provide refreshing spins on familiar stories.
In Robert Eggers’ highly anticipated revival of a classic tale, NOSFERATU’s striking visuals and shocking scenes oscillate between beauty and horror. With stunning sets and symmetrical framing, Eggers’ cinematic craft is on full display. The film is a visual pleasure. Simultaneously, you may find yourself itching to look away as he takes the vampiric story to new, grosser and scarier heights.
NOSFERATU (2024) is a remake of F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film of the same name, which is an unauthorized version of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel “Dracula.” The 2024 film stars an unrecognizable Bill Skarsgård as the titular character, also known as Count Orlok, Lily-Rose Depp as the object of Orlok’s obsession and newlywed to Nicholas Holt, as well as frequent Eggers collaborator Willem Dafoe. The phenomenal cast of players take turns becoming repulsed, entranced, and even possessed by Nosferatu.
With many adaptations under Dracula’s belt, Eggers incorporates more folklore into the film as well as a certain sense of realism. He also heightens the horror with dreadful dream sequences, a psychosexually possessed performance from Depp, a few good old-fashioned jump scares, and the all-consuming presence of Nosferatu. Single-handedly delivering the plague via rats on his ship, Orlok wreaks havoc upon the town of Wisborg, Germany, in an attempt to quench his insatiable thirst for Ellen (Depp), a scenario perfectly depicted in a single shot of the film: Nosferatu’s shadowy hand soaring over the town, casting darkness.
A different game of cat and mouse (er, dog and rat?) plays out in the other half of this double-feature, BABYGIRL. From director Halina Reijn and A24, the film is a titillating vehicle for Nicole Kidman to drive, with the charming Harris Dickinson stealing the wheel throughout, in a constant shift of power between the two.
Kidman plays Romy, a power hungry, career-focused wife and mother of two who may have finally met her match in a young intern, Samuel (Dickinson), who can see right through her facade. The two engage in a perilous pas de deux of power, desire, and shame. At stake is Romy’s marriage to soft-spoken playwright Jacob (Antonio Banderas) and her career.
Where Romy is rocky, Samuel is smooth. Decades of corporate climbing and being in the public spotlight, her edges are jagged. Nothing that can’t be fixed by a George Michael serenade, in-office ogling, and late night hookups — or so Romy thinks. Despite her attempts at mending herself through cryotherapy and Botox, or EMDR, Romy looks to Samuel as the solution to an unfulfilled life. Their torrid affair quickly enters into a world of submission, domination, and even some role-playing as a pet dog.
At the heart of BABYGIRL is an exploration of female desire and sexuality. Through Reijn’s pioneering approach, the subject matter feels like unexplored terrain. Her gender swap of this common, problematic power dynamic offers a new lens to view the story. Instead of another voyeuristic erotic thriller, Reijn brings a sense of humanism, humility, and curiosity to the film. The character of Romy should be seen as the blueprint for complicated cinematic women to come.
Whether you’re coming to the Varsity to be shocked or bewitched, scared or stimulated, NOSFERATU and BABYGIRL get the job done.
– Kasey Dunifer
Both films are now playing at Varsity Cinema.