Nicole Kidman, ‘Babygirl’ and the embrace of the age-gap relationship on-screen in 2024

Nicole Kidman wouldn’t describe her latest film, “Babygirl,” as a professional “risk.”

When asked by Zendaya about the project during their Variety Actors on Actors interview, Kidman said she didn’t hesitate to get involved. “As soon as I heard it was called ‘Babygirl,’ I’m like, ‘Yeah. I want to be the babygirl,’” she said.

The A24 psychosexual drama, which hits theaters on Christmas, stars Kidman as the CEO of a company who begins an affair with her much-younger male intern (played by Harris Dickinson). For many women in Hollywood, a project like “Babygirl” would likely be considered risky just because of its premise. 

Over the years, men have been involved with younger female love interests (both on-screen and off), without many giving it a second thought. Women in similar situations have usually been categorized by society as “cougars.” Yet while some films have featured an older woman entangled with a younger man — including 1967’s “The Graduate,” 1971’s “Harold and Maude,” 1998’s “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and others — there’s been a noticeable shift this year.

A handful of releases — including “The Idea of You,” “Family Affair,” “Lonely Planet” and now, “Babygirl” — have embraced narratives in which an older woman is romantically involved with a younger man. Audiences have been here for it, too. Each project has generated buzz, particularly among female viewers.

“Women I think want to see other women as fully fleshed out characters reclaiming their sexuality and their identity in a way we haven’t been able to see often,” said Robinne Lee, who wrote the 2017 book “The Idea of You” that the movie was adapted from.

“They want to see us enjoying ourselves and tapping into this part of who we are,” Lee told NBC News in a recent Zoom interview. “We allow men to do it all the time. Why can’t we do it?” 

Martha Lauzen, the founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, suggested the popularity of these recent releases can be explained by at least a couple of factors.  

To begin with, Lauzen noted, the films all feature Oscar-winning actresses. 

Kidman stars in two of them. In addition to “Babygirl,” she plays a woman who falls in love with her daughter’s movie star boss (played by Zac Efron) in Netflix’s “Family Affair.” 

Then there’s “The Idea of You,” released by Amazon Prime Video, starring Anne Hathaway as divorced mom Solene Marchand, who finds herself in a relationship with the young lead singer of the fictional band August Moon (played by Nicholas Galitzine). The film’s trailer release in March broke records, months before the film even debuted. Netflix’s “Lonely Planet,” released in fall, stars Laura Dern as a writer who finds a connection with a younger man (played by Liam Hemsworth) at a retreat in Morocco.

All the films also “offer an alternative to the traditional romantic narrative,” Lauzen said in an email to NBC News. 

“Age is typically associated with power,” she wrote. “The older a character is, the more likely they are to possess personal and/or professional power. The female characters in these films are likely to feel more comfortable in their lives and with themselves than their younger counterparts and are thus likely to navigate their romantic encounters in a different way. Some audience members are likely to find this power differential unique and appealing.”