Babygirl
A high-powered CEO puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much-younger intern.
Despite a respectable budget of $20.0M, Babygirl became a box office success, earning $60.9M worldwide—a 205% return.
9 wins & 23 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Babygirl (2024) demonstrates carefully calibrated story structure, characteristic of Halina Reijn's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 55 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.4, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Romy
Samuel
Jacob
Main Cast & Characters
Romy
Played by Nicole Kidman
A high-powered CEO who risks everything when she begins a forbidden affair with a younger intern.
Samuel
Played by Harris Dickinson
A confident young intern who engages in a power-dynamic relationship with his CEO boss.
Jacob
Played by Antonio Banderas
Romy's supportive husband and successful theater director, unaware of her secret life.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Romy in her element as a powerful CEO, projecting control and authority in her professional life, with a stable marriage to Jacob. The image of a woman who has everything under control.. Of particular interest, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 14 minutes when Samuel, a young intern, arrives at the company. His presence immediately disrupts Romy's carefully maintained equilibrium, awakening something she's kept buried.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 28 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This illustrates the protagonist's commitment to Romy makes the active choice to pursue the affair with Samuel, crossing the line from fantasy to action. She enters a dangerous new world where she is no longer in control., moving from reaction to action.
At 58 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat A close call or escalation raises the stakes dramatically. Either someone nearly discovers the affair, or the power dynamic shifts in a way that threatens Romy's control. The fun is over., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 86 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, The affair is exposed or reaches a breaking point. Romy faces the loss of everything she's built—her marriage, career, reputation. The death of her former self and the illusion of control., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 93 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 81% of the runtime. Romy reaches a new understanding—synthesis of her public and private selves. She finds clarity about what she truly wants and who she needs to be, no longer willing to hide., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Babygirl's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs systematic plot point analysis that identifies crucial turning points. By mapping Babygirl against these established plot points, we can identify how Halina Reijn utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Babygirl within the drama genre.
Halina Reijn's Structural Approach
Among the 2 Halina Reijn films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.1, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Babygirl represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Halina Reijn filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more Halina Reijn analyses, see Bodies Bodies Bodies.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Romy in her element as a powerful CEO, projecting control and authority in her professional life, with a stable marriage to Jacob. The image of a woman who has everything under control.
Theme
A conversation about desire, control, and what we hide from others hints at the film's central question: Can we truly reconcile our public personas with our private desires?
Worldbuilding
Establishment of Romy's dual world: her commanding presence at the tech company she runs, her seemingly stable marriage to Jacob, and subtle hints of dissatisfaction beneath the polished surface.
Disruption
Samuel, a young intern, arrives at the company. His presence immediately disrupts Romy's carefully maintained equilibrium, awakening something she's kept buried.
Resistance
Romy resists the attraction to Samuel, maintaining professional boundaries while increasingly aware of her desires. Initial charged encounters and the internal debate between duty and want.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Romy makes the active choice to pursue the affair with Samuel, crossing the line from fantasy to action. She enters a dangerous new world where she is no longer in control.
Mirror World
The relationship with Samuel becomes the mirror that reflects what Romy truly desires versus what she's built her life around. He represents liberation from her self-imposed constraints.
Premise
The affair intensifies with increasingly risky encounters. Romy explores this hidden side of herself, experiencing both liberation and danger as she navigates the dual lives of CEO and transgressor.
Midpoint
A close call or escalation raises the stakes dramatically. Either someone nearly discovers the affair, or the power dynamic shifts in a way that threatens Romy's control. The fun is over.
Opposition
The walls close in as maintaining the secret becomes harder. Suspicion grows, professional boundaries blur dangerously, and Romy's carefully constructed life begins to crack under the pressure.
Collapse
The affair is exposed or reaches a breaking point. Romy faces the loss of everything she's built—her marriage, career, reputation. The death of her former self and the illusion of control.
Crisis
Romy confronts the wreckage and must sit with the consequences of her choices. A dark period of reckoning with who she really is versus who she pretended to be.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Romy reaches a new understanding—synthesis of her public and private selves. She finds clarity about what she truly wants and who she needs to be, no longer willing to hide.
Synthesis
Romy takes decisive action to resolve the situation on her own terms. She confronts the aftermath, makes choices about her marriage and career, and reclaims agency over her life.
Transformation
Final image shows Romy transformed—no longer performing control but genuinely possessing it through self-knowledge. She's integrated her desires with her identity, changed by what she's experienced.