Primal screams

Writer-director Halina Reijn's unflinching study of female sexuality is bookended by orgasms, all captured in exquisite, unabashed close-up on the face of Nicole Kidman. The first is loudly faked for a partner, who subsequently punctuates his sweat-glistened pleasure with three whispered words ("I love you"), and the second is intense, raw and genuine, reflecting a rare intimacy and vulnerability that requires no verbal outburst. Nothing is faked by Kidman. She delivers a fearless, gut-wrenching portrayal of a businesswoman, wife and mother ashamed of the animalistic desires in her head - until an abuse of power with a male subordinate allows BDSM-charged fantasy to become intoxicating reality.

- Halina Reijn

Reijn's picture explores the masks we wear in front of others, and the self-hatred that festers behind those when we don't acknowledge our primal impulses. Romy Mathis (Kidman) is the CEO of New York-based logistics company Tensile Automation. She is one of the few female faces in the boardroom and an inspiration to her assistant Esme (Sophie Wilde). The sheen of power and self-confidence that radiates from Romy in the office dulls at home where her daughters, Isabel (Esther McGregor) and Nora (V