Maybe an Oscar for Halina Reijn

After the Venice Film Festival, we couldn't really ignore it: Halina Reijn is hot in Hollywood. Although her latest film ‘Babygirl’ has yet to hit cinemas, it is already managing to achieve one success after another. At the premiere, the whole company got burning hands and cramps in their calves from clapping and standing during the six-minute closing applause, and critics dipped their pens not in vinegar but in honey.

Halina remains in her high because after a triumphant tour of America where her film was shown, she has now been named one of the directors ‘to watch’ by entertainment magazine Variety.

‘Babygirl’

Halina attracted magazine attention with ‘Babygirl’. In this erotic thriller, influential CEO Romy (Nicole Kidman) begins a relationship with much younger intern Samuel (Harris Dickinson). He triggers feelings in her that she has never felt before and for which she risks her career and marriage. Halina not only directed the film, she also wrote the screenplay and collaborated as a producer. ‘Babygirl’ is available in cinemas from 2 January.

The role of director

After a successful career as an actress, Halina plunged fully into directing in 2019. With her first film being ‘Instinct’: a Dutch psychological thriller she made with Carice van Houten. The film attracted attention both in the Netherlands and at international film festivals, including at US production company A24. Halina flew to the US and made the slasher film ‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’, about a group of friends playing a dark murder game that soon gets out of hand. The success of this film meant a contract with Creative Artists Agency, an agency that also includes Zendaya and Steven Spielberg. So Halina is fully established in Hollywood.

Variety

That she has now been noticed at Variety is not nothing. The magazine has been listing notable up-and-coming filmmakers for 28 years. Previously, successful directors Wes Anderson and Christopher Nolan, among others, were on it. Variety noted this year that competition among new directors was particularly high. Other names on the list include Zoë Kravitz with her directorial debut ‘Blink Twice’ and French director Coralie Fargeat with the much-discussed horror film ‘The Substance’. The magazine also pays extensive attention to all 10 filmmakers in their first issue of 2025; including ‘our’ Halina.