A middle-aged woman explodes her seemingly perfect life by surrendering to taboo desires in this steamy, painfully plausible drama from writer-director Halina Reijn, the filmmaker behind arch horror-comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies. Powered by a courageous turn from its lead, Nicole Kidman, who was already the winner of Best Actress at last year’s Venice Film Festival, Babygirl ensures she’s part of the Oscar conversation once again. Kidman plays Romy, CEO of an AI company entering into an affair with twentysomething intern Samuel (man of the moment Harris Dickinson) who instinctively understands her need to be dominated. Antonio Banderas plays Romy’s devoted theatre-director husband Jacob, with whom she shares a passionate but ultimately sexually unsatisfying relationship.

Reijn skilfully avoids the blandly sexy or sanitised; Romy and Samuel’s interactions can be clumsy, embarrassing and unsure as they deal with the shifting power dynamic and get to know each other’s needs. Although the slippery Samuel is held at more of a remove, both characters feel credible and well developed. The talented and versatile Dickinson makes an unconventional, refreshingly odd love interest when Samuel could have simply been written as a ‘hot young man’. However, it’s undoubtedly Kidman’s film and she’s as raw and gutsy as she’s ever been, showing us how Romy’s smart, steely exterior masks confusion, shame and insecurity.

A subplot involving Romy’s ambitious, impatient assistant Esme (Sophie Wilde) doesn’t quite live up to its potential for exploring how older and younger women interact, and what they expect from each other. Nevertheless, Babygirl is a thought-provoking, appealingly askew look at workplace machinations and female thirst, with the latter still underexplored in mainstream American cinema. The film is unafraid to put sex centre stage and tell us what this powerful woman wants, however problematic.

Babygirl is in cinemas from Friday 10 January.