At this stage, Nicole Kidman appears at the Venice Film Festival to premiere films exploring forbidden desire and passion. This has become a recurring motif in recent years. The festival hosted Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick’s acclaimed film, in 1999, with its provocative scenes revealing the moral and social decadence surrounding the rich. Tom Cruise delivers a bold line that has echoed through cinema history. He returned in 2004 for promotional duties, with Reincarnation, a film that captivates with its beauty and invites controversy as a woman falls deeply for a man who claims to be the reincarnation of the husband she lost.
In the competition title Baby Girl, the performer engages in scenes that push boundaries, including explicit sexual moments and provocative imagery on the internet, culminating in an intimate scene where a partner is explored on the floor with a playful, almost ritual, gesture using a small plate of milk.
Nicole Kidman at the Venice Film Festival. EMBRACE
“This is a story about sex, desire, marriage, truth, power and consent. It is told through a woman’s perspective, and that focus has been what makes it feel boldly liberating to tell”, stated the Australian actress during the festival.
Halina Reijn, known for her earlier crime comedy work, presents a narrative about a woman who commands significant authority in a robotics company. Facing professional risk, her husband and two daughters, she initiates a forbidden romance with a company intern.
Throughout the filming, questions arise about high sexual tension and its portrayal in a post-MeToo era. Some argue the depiction challenges long-standing feminist assumptions about power and desire, while others worry it may tempt audiences to overlook consequences. The film invites debate rather than preaching a single message. Eyes Wide Shut faced intense scrutiny in Venice, while Reincarnation drew strong reactions. Baby Girl is viewed by many as a potential award contender.
Cate Blanchett presents a series directed by Alfonso Cuarón, a veteran of screen storytelling whose work has shaped contemporary cinema. After winning the Golden Lion for Roma in 2018, Cuarón returned with a bold approach—using explicit scenes to underline courage rather than merely titillate a debate about the era. The seven-part Apple TV series Observed features Blanchett as a renowned documentary filmmaker whose personal life strains under the weight of a revealing book about a hidden past. The plot follows an elderly widow seeking revenge for reasons that seem mysterious, while a six-hour production dives into themes of truth, manipulation, and fear.
The story divides across two timelines: one tracing events described in the mysterious book, and the other showing the present-day consequences of those events. The execution includes heavy voiceover and moments that mix confusion with occasional absurdity. Some viewers find the experience immersive in theory, but the long-form format risks fatigue, making it feel more like a sprawling project than a tight narrative. In Venice, the creator acknowledged the challenges of directing television, candidly noting that the craft is different from film and that the learning curve feels steep at this stage of life. This perspective helps frame the festival as a space where bold experiments meet practical realities.