Spoilers follow for the film, including the ending Baby girl.

Was there a time in my life before I saw Harris Dickinson cradling his lanky limbs and tattooed body into a bombastic, ethereal, and undeniably sexy “father figure”? I’m sure there must have been. But I’m fascinated by Nicole Kidman’s titular Babygirl, who ruins this man’s life after seeing him calm down an angry dog. I’m spellbound. I’ve watched and re-watched this white-boy-wasted British junior edition one too many times. Samuel arrives to George Michael’s most iconic song The Scene in Baby girl because it plays so cleverly with seduction, gender roles and sexual power.

Baby girl is at its best when it gives free rein to its characters’ desires – like in the “Father Figure” scene, which conveys everything we need to know about how CEO Romy Mathis (Kidman) and her intern Samuel (Dickinson) handle this matter tackle. When it begins, Romy has already undressed in front of Samuel at his behest, gotten down on his knees to perform oral sex (off-screen), and Dickinson has told him in his hoarse, flat American accent whisper: “You “Am my little girl.” So far she has been the submissive one; They both play roles, but Romy’s role is usually that of the performer who does what Samuel asks and is rewarded with his attention and a steady flow of milk. But when the first note of “Father Figure” hits, their dynamic changes. Now it’s Samuel who performs for Romy, a reversal that gives us a raw, vulnerable glimpse into Samuel’s confidence – one that tells us it’s him authentic a fuckboi. And we can all enjoy it.

First the sharp cut: Samuel in a medium shot, shirtless, standing alone in the frame as the stuttering first notes and the droning synthesizer line appear. Then the long shot: He has a cut crystal glass with brown liquor in his hand (that’s the key) as he runs along to the music. His gold chain (also key) is on, his shirt is off and so are his tattoos out ofand when he sways, we see her fully for the first time. (For Dickinson newcomers, he played a heavily colored hacker A murder at the end of the worldduring which he convinces Emma Corrin to sing along to Annie Lennox’s “No More ‘I Love You’s'”. That’s pretty sweet.) As Samuel walks toward the camera, the Old English KES text on his right upper arm and a huge open text can be seen. The snake with the mouth to his left comes into the picture. The scratchy little symbols on his fingers become clearer as he takes another sip of his drink and waves his hand in front of his face. And the pièce de résistance on his right ribcage: a winged cherub in a black balaclava wielding a machine gun, a fantastically shitty image that seems to fly as he spins, rolling, swaying and lowering his body.

Baby girl isn’t particularly interested in providing backstories for its main characters. The characterization of Romy and Samuel is just thin enough to be distracting when director and writer Halina Reijn reveals certain details: Romy grew up in a cult and maybe that’s why she likes erotic scenarios in which she gives up control – okay? Samuel is afraid that he’s being self-destructive – I mean, obviously? Romy’s husband Jacob (Antonio Banderas) hates his wife’s various floral aprons – well, my man, I can’t imagine you packing your daughters’ lunch! But Samuel’s tattoos, and especially that cherub (which is actually one of Harrison’s, along with the snake, the finger tattoos and the KES, inspired by Ken Loach’s beautiful film of the same name), tell us everything we’ll ever need. It is a sign of his youth and his impetuousness, his nihilism and his menace. He is declarative and ready to attack, but at the same time free and relaxed in his own body in a way that Romy never is.

All of these layers make this scene look spiky and prickly. It is Magic Mike XXL while Samuel writhes and grinds; It is The bodyguard when he picks up Romy and carries him in his arms; It is a fantasy that emphasizes the eroticism of being serviced by another person’s willing body. As Romy sits on a throne-like chair like a queen, watching him perform this little Chippendales routine for her, she seems to be the one in control of their dynamic now. But as the one presenting herself for consumption, Samuel also has the power to decide what she sees and how she sees it. Think of the first lines in “Father Figure”: “That’s all I wanted/Something special, something holy/In your eyes/For just a moment/To be brave and naked/By your side.” Romy and Samuel here are at their most open and open about what they want from each other – to be adored and cared for.

Of course, this sexual idyll cannot last. Samuel and Romy will both become stalker-like; his girlfriend, who happens to be Romy’s assistant, will blackmail her; Romy will confess a heavily redacted version of the affair to her husband Jacob. (She seems to ignore that her and Samuel’s safe word was his name, the film’s funniest detail.) But for the length of “Father Figure” Baby girl gives us the well-known version of this story, in which an 80s pinprick follows a bad boy who gets lost in his own skin. There is comfort in recognition and joy in naming a new father (especially one with such a perfectly descriptive tattoo). Fire away, Harris!