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The Advertiser
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Sirens will have you engaged, even if you don't know what it's trying to say
Given her recent TV and film track record, it's amazing that Nicole Kidman doesn't star in Sirens. The soapy dark comedy feels like it belongs in the The Perfect Couple, Babygirl, A Family Affair realm of rich white people doing rich white people things. But it's a different Oscar-winning redhead in this series: Julianne Moore. The show, based on the play Elemeno Pea by Maid creator Molly Smith Metzler (also in charge here), follows sisters Simone (Aussie Milly Alcock, House of the Dragon) and Devon (Meghann Fahy, The White Lotus), and Simone's boss Michaela (Moore) on an exclusive New England island of Port Haven. Devon, the older sister, has arrived on the island with a serious bone to pick with her sister. Simone, who she hasn't seen for about a year, has been working as an assistant to Michaela, and is refusing to head back to Buffalo where Devon is taking care of their ailing father, Bruce (Bill Camp, The Queen's Gambit). Simone and Michaela have a very strange, symbiotic relationship and Devon struggles to reconcile the doting, pastel-wearing woman before her with the sister she helped raise. There's definitely a whiff of cultishness in the air on Port Haven, and Devon is determined to extract her sister from Michaela's bejewelled clutches. It's not very clear what the point of Sirens is (maybe something about class divides, or the sacrifices people make for security?), but the five-episode series is entertaining enough for a weekend binge. The performances are good, especially Fahy's, and the costuming is almost a character of its own. A quirky supporting cast helps build out this Stepford-esque world, with the likes of Kevin Bacon, Glenn Howerton, Felix Solis, Josh Segarra and Trevor Salter as the delightful Captain Morgan. You won't really know why you watched this show, but you also won't regret putting the time in. If you're a millennial still trying to fill that One Tree Hill-shaped hole in your life, may we suggest Motorheads? While not as angsty or well-cast as the seminal 2000s high school show, Motorheads shares a lot with One Tree Hill - not least of which is creator John A. Norris, who was a writer on the earlier series. Twins Caitlyn (Melissa Collazo, Freaky) and Zac (Michael Cimino, Never Have I Ever) move to their mum's small, semi-rural childhood hometown to move in with their uncle (on their dad's side) for a fresh start. Coming from the hustle-bustle of New York, their new home of Ironwood, Pennsylvania is a definite change of pace. But this town has something that Caitlyn is very excited about - a thriving car race culture among the youth. She's been a 'motorhead' for years and has purportedly changed hundreds of tyres, despite being in only her late teens. Zac cares less about the mechanics of the cars, but does long for the glory of racing - especially as their dad was a celebrated (and criminal) street racer. Their sage yet flawed uncle Logan (Ryan Phillippe, Cruel Intentions) is a mechanic (very Keith Scott-coded for the OTH fans) who has some shady crime connections himself, but is trying to walk on the straight and narrow despite limited funds. Both the twins have romantic interests from the moment they step into town in classic teen drama style. And just in case the parallels in plot weren't enough to sell you on the OTH connection, the series opens with a shot of a bridge very similar to that one Lucas Scott walks over in the pilot/opening credits. Very intentional. The show also uses plenty of popular music, with tracks from the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims and Noah Kahan. The Amazon money put to good use. There are also plenty of flashbacks, where the twins' father is played as a teen by Deacon Phillippe (real life son of Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon), and the songs in this time period are iconic OTH-era jams like Fall Out Boy's This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race and M.I.A.'s Paper Planes. There must be two Guy Ritchies running around these days, because the director is producing an awful lot of work. Since 2023, he's released Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, The Covenant, The Gentlemen (the series version), The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, MobLand (he directed the first two episodes, but was not involved in writing) and now Fountain of Youth. This latest film doesn't have the classic twisty Ritchie-esque feel to it, as it wasn't written by the Brit, but by Zodiac, Murder Mystery and Scream VI scribe James Vanderbilt (who built his own great-grandfather Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt into the script). A classic adventure romp, Fountain of Youth sees Luke Purdue (John Krasinski) convince his sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman) to help him find the fabled water source in a quest funded by billionaire Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson). The mission will take them across several contintents with lots of fun action along the way. Meanwhile the mysterious Esme (Eiza Gonzalez) and Interpol agent Jamal Abbas (Arian Moayed) are hot on the crew's tail. The secret to uncovering the fountain lies in a series of Renaissance-era paintings, so there's more than a little art theft on this journey.l Luke is equal parts Indiana Jones, Ben Gates and Rick O'Connell, and the film owes a lot to The Last Crusade, National Treasure and, to a lesser extent, The Mummy. Fountain of Youth lacks some of the heart of these iconic adventure films, and certainly could do with some more engaging score. The music really plays a big part in an adventure movie, and this one is let down on that front. If you're a sucker for adventure, especially history-based adventure, then Fountain of Youth is going to hit the spot, even if you're not itching to watch it again right away. Nicole Kidman might not have been in Sirens, but you can catch her in the second season of Prime Video's Nine Perfect Strangers. This time the action is moved from the sunny climes of Byron Bay to the decidedly frostier Austrian Alps. Joining Nicole for this season are fellow Aussie Murray Bartlett, Henry Golding, Mark Strong, Christine Baranski and Annie Murphy, among others. Also on Prime you'll find the fourth instalment of former Top Gear guru Jeremy Clarkson's reality farming series, Clarkson's Farm, and four-part documentary series about NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, called, inventively, Earnhardt. Over on Netflix you can dive into Fear Street: Prom Queen, a spin-off of the 2021 trilogy based on the R.L. Stine novels. This one is set in 1988 and while it takes a little time to find its rhythm, ends up being a blast. You can also catch Tyler Perry's latest comedy series She the People (Perry's the only person in Hollywood busier than Nicole Kidman and Guy Ritchie), and docuseries Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders on Netflix. Meanwhile on Binge there's another entry in the Librarians franchise, which has spanned several films and four seasons of TV. Now there's another spin-off, The Librarians: The Next Chapter. Given her recent TV and film track record, it's amazing that Nicole Kidman doesn't star in Sirens. The soapy dark comedy feels like it belongs in the The Perfect Couple, Babygirl, A Family Affair realm of rich white people doing rich white people things. But it's a different Oscar-winning redhead in this series: Julianne Moore. The show, based on the play Elemeno Pea by Maid creator Molly Smith Metzler (also in charge here), follows sisters Simone (Aussie Milly Alcock, House of the Dragon) and Devon (Meghann Fahy, The White Lotus), and Simone's boss Michaela (Moore) on an exclusive New England island of Port Haven. Devon, the older sister, has arrived on the island with a serious bone to pick with her sister. Simone, who she hasn't seen for about a year, has been working as an assistant to Michaela, and is refusing to head back to Buffalo where Devon is taking care of their ailing father, Bruce (Bill Camp, The Queen's Gambit). Simone and Michaela have a very strange, symbiotic relationship and Devon struggles to reconcile the doting, pastel-wearing woman before her with the sister she helped raise. There's definitely a whiff of cultishness in the air on Port Haven, and Devon is determined to extract her sister from Michaela's bejewelled clutches. It's not very clear what the point of Sirens is (maybe something about class divides, or the sacrifices people make for security?), but the five-episode series is entertaining enough for a weekend binge. The performances are good, especially Fahy's, and the costuming is almost a character of its own. A quirky supporting cast helps build out this Stepford-esque world, with the likes of Kevin Bacon, Glenn Howerton, Felix Solis, Josh Segarra and Trevor Salter as the delightful Captain Morgan. You won't really know why you watched this show, but you also won't regret putting the time in. If you're a millennial still trying to fill that One Tree Hill-shaped hole in your life, may we suggest Motorheads? While not as angsty or well-cast as the seminal 2000s high school show, Motorheads shares a lot with One Tree Hill - not least of which is creator John A. Norris, who was a writer on the earlier series. Twins Caitlyn (Melissa Collazo, Freaky) and Zac (Michael Cimino, Never Have I Ever) move to their mum's small, semi-rural childhood hometown to move in with their uncle (on their dad's side) for a fresh start. Coming from the hustle-bustle of New York, their new home of Ironwood, Pennsylvania is a definite change of pace. But this town has something that Caitlyn is very excited about - a thriving car race culture among the youth. She's been a 'motorhead' for years and has purportedly changed hundreds of tyres, despite being in only her late teens. Zac cares less about the mechanics of the cars, but does long for the glory of racing - especially as their dad was a celebrated (and criminal) street racer. Their sage yet flawed uncle Logan (Ryan Phillippe, Cruel Intentions) is a mechanic (very Keith Scott-coded for the OTH fans) who has some shady crime connections himself, but is trying to walk on the straight and narrow despite limited funds. Both the twins have romantic interests from the moment they step into town in classic teen drama style. And just in case the parallels in plot weren't enough to sell you on the OTH connection, the series opens with a shot of a bridge very similar to that one Lucas Scott walks over in the pilot/opening credits. Very intentional. The show also uses plenty of popular music, with tracks from the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims and Noah Kahan. The Amazon money put to good use. There are also plenty of flashbacks, where the twins' father is played as a teen by Deacon Phillippe (real life son of Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon), and the songs in this time period are iconic OTH-era jams like Fall Out Boy's This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race and M.I.A.'s Paper Planes. There must be two Guy Ritchies running around these days, because the director is producing an awful lot of work. Since 2023, he's released Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, The Covenant, The Gentlemen (the series version), The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, MobLand (he directed the first two episodes, but was not involved in writing) and now Fountain of Youth. This latest film doesn't have the classic twisty Ritchie-esque feel to it, as it wasn't written by the Brit, but by Zodiac, Murder Mystery and Scream VI scribe James Vanderbilt (who built his own great-grandfather Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt into the script). A classic adventure romp, Fountain of Youth sees Luke Purdue (John Krasinski) convince his sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman) to help him find the fabled water source in a quest funded by billionaire Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson). The mission will take them across several contintents with lots of fun action along the way. Meanwhile the mysterious Esme (Eiza Gonzalez) and Interpol agent Jamal Abbas (Arian Moayed) are hot on the crew's tail. The secret to uncovering the fountain lies in a series of Renaissance-era paintings, so there's more than a little art theft on this journey.l Luke is equal parts Indiana Jones, Ben Gates and Rick O'Connell, and the film owes a lot to The Last Crusade, National Treasure and, to a lesser extent, The Mummy. Fountain of Youth lacks some of the heart of these iconic adventure films, and certainly could do with some more engaging score. The music really plays a big part in an adventure movie, and this one is let down on that front. If you're a sucker for adventure, especially history-based adventure, then Fountain of Youth is going to hit the spot, even if you're not itching to watch it again right away. Nicole Kidman might not have been in Sirens, but you can catch her in the second season of Prime Video's Nine Perfect Strangers. This time the action is moved from the sunny climes of Byron Bay to the decidedly frostier Austrian Alps. Joining Nicole for this season are fellow Aussie Murray Bartlett, Henry Golding, Mark Strong, Christine Baranski and Annie Murphy, among others. Also on Prime you'll find the fourth instalment of former Top Gear guru Jeremy Clarkson's reality farming series, Clarkson's Farm, and four-part documentary series about NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, called, inventively, Earnhardt. Over on Netflix you can dive into Fear Street: Prom Queen, a spin-off of the 2021 trilogy based on the R.L. Stine novels. This one is set in 1988 and while it takes a little time to find its rhythm, ends up being a blast. You can also catch Tyler Perry's latest comedy series She the People (Perry's the only person in Hollywood busier than Nicole Kidman and Guy Ritchie), and docuseries Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders on Netflix. Meanwhile on Binge there's another entry in the Librarians franchise, which has spanned several films and four seasons of TV. Now there's another spin-off, The Librarians: The Next Chapter. Given her recent TV and film track record, it's amazing that Nicole Kidman doesn't star in Sirens. The soapy dark comedy feels like it belongs in the The Perfect Couple, Babygirl, A Family Affair realm of rich white people doing rich white people things. But it's a different Oscar-winning redhead in this series: Julianne Moore. The show, based on the play Elemeno Pea by Maid creator Molly Smith Metzler (also in charge here), follows sisters Simone (Aussie Milly Alcock, House of the Dragon) and Devon (Meghann Fahy, The White Lotus), and Simone's boss Michaela (Moore) on an exclusive New England island of Port Haven. Devon, the older sister, has arrived on the island with a serious bone to pick with her sister. Simone, who she hasn't seen for about a year, has been working as an assistant to Michaela, and is refusing to head back to Buffalo where Devon is taking care of their ailing father, Bruce (Bill Camp, The Queen's Gambit). Simone and Michaela have a very strange, symbiotic relationship and Devon struggles to reconcile the doting, pastel-wearing woman before her with the sister she helped raise. There's definitely a whiff of cultishness in the air on Port Haven, and Devon is determined to extract her sister from Michaela's bejewelled clutches. It's not very clear what the point of Sirens is (maybe something about class divides, or the sacrifices people make for security?), but the five-episode series is entertaining enough for a weekend binge. The performances are good, especially Fahy's, and the costuming is almost a character of its own. A quirky supporting cast helps build out this Stepford-esque world, with the likes of Kevin Bacon, Glenn Howerton, Felix Solis, Josh Segarra and Trevor Salter as the delightful Captain Morgan. You won't really know why you watched this show, but you also won't regret putting the time in. If you're a millennial still trying to fill that One Tree Hill-shaped hole in your life, may we suggest Motorheads? While not as angsty or well-cast as the seminal 2000s high school show, Motorheads shares a lot with One Tree Hill - not least of which is creator John A. Norris, who was a writer on the earlier series. Twins Caitlyn (Melissa Collazo, Freaky) and Zac (Michael Cimino, Never Have I Ever) move to their mum's small, semi-rural childhood hometown to move in with their uncle (on their dad's side) for a fresh start. Coming from the hustle-bustle of New York, their new home of Ironwood, Pennsylvania is a definite change of pace. But this town has something that Caitlyn is very excited about - a thriving car race culture among the youth. She's been a 'motorhead' for years and has purportedly changed hundreds of tyres, despite being in only her late teens. Zac cares less about the mechanics of the cars, but does long for the glory of racing - especially as their dad was a celebrated (and criminal) street racer. Their sage yet flawed uncle Logan (Ryan Phillippe, Cruel Intentions) is a mechanic (very Keith Scott-coded for the OTH fans) who has some shady crime connections himself, but is trying to walk on the straight and narrow despite limited funds. Both the twins have romantic interests from the moment they step into town in classic teen drama style. And just in case the parallels in plot weren't enough to sell you on the OTH connection, the series opens with a shot of a bridge very similar to that one Lucas Scott walks over in the pilot/opening credits. Very intentional. The show also uses plenty of popular music, with tracks from the likes of Olivia Rodrigo, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims and Noah Kahan. The Amazon money put to good use. There are also plenty of flashbacks, where the twins' father is played as a teen by Deacon Phillippe (real life son of Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon), and the songs in this time period are iconic OTH-era jams like Fall Out Boy's This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race and M.I.A.'s Paper Planes. There must be two Guy Ritchies running around these days, because the director is producing an awful lot of work. Since 2023, he's released Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, The Covenant, The Gentlemen (the series version), The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, MobLand (he directed the first two episodes, but was not involved in writing) and now Fountain of Youth. This latest film doesn't have the classic twisty Ritchie-esque feel to it, as it wasn't written by the Brit, but by Zodiac, Murder Mystery and Scream VI scribe James Vanderbilt (who built his own great-grandfather Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt into the script). A classic adventure romp, Fountain of Youth sees Luke Purdue (John Krasinski) convince his sister Charlotte (Natalie Portman) to help him find the fabled water source in a quest funded by billionaire Owen Carver (Domhnall Gleeson). The mission will take them across several contintents with lots of fun action along the way. Meanwhile the mysterious Esme (Eiza Gonzalez) and Interpol agent Jamal Abbas (Arian Moayed) are hot on the crew's tail. The secret to uncovering the fountain lies in a series of Renaissance-era paintings, so there's more than a little art theft on this journey.l Luke is equal parts Indiana Jones, Ben Gates and Rick O'Connell, and the film owes a lot to The Last Crusade, National Treasure and, to a lesser extent, The Mummy. Fountain of Youth lacks some of the heart of these iconic adventure films, and certainly could do with some more engaging score. The music really plays a big part in an adventure movie, and this one is let down on that front. If you're a sucker for adventure, especially history-based adventure, then Fountain of Youth is going to hit the spot, even if you're not itching to watch it again right away. Nicole Kidman might not have been in Sirens, but you can catch her in the second season of Prime Video's Nine Perfect Strangers. This time the action is moved from the sunny climes of Byron Bay to the decidedly frostier Austrian Alps. Joining Nicole for this season are fellow Aussie Murray Bartlett, Henry Golding, Mark Strong, Christine Baranski and Annie Murphy, among others. Also on Prime you'll find the fourth instalment of former Top Gear guru Jeremy Clarkson's reality farming series, Clarkson's Farm, and four-part documentary series about NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, called, inventively, Earnhardt. Over on Netflix you can dive into Fear Street: Prom Queen, a spin-off of the 2021 trilogy based on the R.L. Stine novels. This one is set in 1988 and while it takes a little time to find its rhythm, ends up being a blast. You can also catch Tyler Perry's latest comedy series She the People (Perry's the only person in Hollywood busier than Nicole Kidman and Guy Ritchie), and docuseries Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders on Netflix. Meanwhile on Binge there's another entry in the Librarians franchise, which has spanned several films and four seasons of TV. Now there's another spin-off, The Librarians: The Next Chapter.
Perth Now
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Nicole Kidman taking time off from Hollywood
Nicole Kidman is taking some time off from work to focus on her family. The Hollywood actress had a busy few years releasing movies including 'A Family Affair' and 'Babygirl' as well as filming the series series of 'Nine Perfect Strangers' and starring in Netflix drama 'The Perfect Couple' last year - and Nicole has now revealed she's the summer of 2025 off because she wants her kids to feel "completely loved, completely prioritized". She told Allure magazine: "I'm taking the summer off." Nicole - who lost her mother Janelle last year - went on to add: "Overgiving is bad for your health. You don't say to yourself: I matter. I grew up with a very strong connection to taking care of my mother and my family and being the oldest child. "Put the oxygen mask on yourself first, right? Right. It sounds good in theory, but it doesn't make sense to me when you have kids. I will do anything in terms of sacrifice. I want them to feel completely loved, completely prioritized." Nicole is mother to two adopted kids - Bella and Connor - with her ex Tom Cruise, and two daughters - Sunday and Faith - with her husband Keith Urban. In the interview, she was asked: "Do you like who you are as a mother?" and the actress replied: "I do, actually. Yeah. I'm very close to both my girls. "I sit on their beds and discuss the most intimate things; I get to be their guide. If they want to tell me to be quiet, they can. "I'm able to apologize to them. I'm able to stand up to them. I very much like the relationship we have. It's nice to be able to say that." Despite being very busy with her career in recent years, Nicole previously admitted only her family commitments have stopped her taking on even more projects. She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: 'I would do so much more if I could. But I'm limited in my physicality, in terms of how I can only do so much, and then I obviously have kids and I have a relationship – but I'm still trying to use what I've been given."
Sky News AU
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
Keith Urban 'frustrated' and 'worried' after wife Nicole Kidman 'walked back' pledge to ease out of acting
Nicole Kidman's husband Keith Urban is reportedly "worried" and "frustrated" the Australian actress has appeared to walk back her statement about intermittently stepping back from acting following a busy workload. In March, Kidman, 57, told the Hollywood Reporter she was "off" for the remainder of the year after releasing Expats, A Family Affair, The Perfect Couple, Spellbound, Babygirl, and Lioness season two. However, she was spotted just weeks later working on the set of Apple TV+ series Margo's Got Money Troubles in Los Angeles. An insider on Wednesday said it was "extraordinary" that "not even a month" after her admission, she was "already she's back on set." "Keith isn't angry, but he's worried and understandably very frustrated," the insider told New Idea. "He knows how much Nic loves her job, but she keeps moving the goal posts. Instead of putting herself first - something he and the kids need her to do - she's putting work first every time." The insider said Nicole has seldom "had a chance to recover from the shock" of losing her mother Janelle Kidman at the age of 84 following a long illness last September. And Keith, while on tour, has not been around to ensure she is eating and sleeping right. The insider further said Kidman has stretched herself thin with extra acting work and being involved in fashion campaigns and charities. The Babygirl star was spotted with her daughter Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, 16, fellow Australian actress Naomi Watts, and her daughter Sasha at the Balenciaga Show at Paris Fashion week last June. Meanwhile, she has been dealing with her emotions about Sunday Rose's runway debut on the Miu Miu catwalk last October. Kidman revealed to the Hollywood Reporter she was initially reluctant to let the 16-year-old into the spotlight and thought, "Oh no, I don't think so." While she "thrives on work" and uses it as an "escape", the insider said her husband is fearful about "how long she can keep up this pace and at what cost". With no signs of slowing down, Kidman hosted Easter Sunday at her and Keith's primary 10,925-square-foot Nashville residence over the weekend. A photo on Instagram showed the Oscar winner with her daughters Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, 13, her younger sister Antonia Kidman, and her daughters Lucia Hawley, 27, and Sybella, 18. In March, Kidman once again returned to the big screen as teacher Nancy in Amazon's thriller Holland, directed by Mimi Cave. She is set to star in and produce numerous other projects this year, including the Australian television series adaptation of Liane Moriarty's novel The Last Anniversary, Amazon Prime Video series Scarpetta and Nine Perfect Strangers season two.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
From ‘Babygirl' to ‘Bridget Jones,' How Women Are Taking Control in May-December Romances
If it feels like you've seen a lot of movies lately where women are dating much younger men, well, it's because you have. The latest is 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,' now streaming on Peacock, where in her fourth and likely final outing, Renée Zellweger's new love interest is played by 26-years-younger star of 'The White Lotus,' Leo Woodall. But Bridget is not alone. Last year saw the release of 'The Idea of You,' in which Anne Hathaway's character falls in love with a pop star 16 years her junior (played by Nicholas Galitzine); 'A Family Affair,' where Nicole Kidman falls in love with a man also 16 years her junior (played by Zac Efron, who is 20 years younger than Kidman in real life); 'Lonely Planet,' which sees Laura Dern fall for Liam Hemsworth, who is 23 years younger than her; and 'Babygirl,' wherein Kidman once again plays a character who falls for a man 24 years younger than her (Harris Dickinson, who in real life is 29 years younger than Kidman). And of course the 2023 Todd Haynes film, 'May December,' starring Julianne Moore and Charles Melton. It's a trend that's becoming hard to ignore, though 'Bridget Jones' star Zellweger told TheWrap she finds it 'interesting … that people think it's a novelty. I mean, what does that say about what we've normalized, in terms of the dynamics between different ages and the sexes?' She's not wrong. May-December romances between older men and younger women have long been present onscreen. From 'Sabrina' in 1954 to 'Lost in Translation' in 2003. Among more recent examples, 53-year-old Ke Huy Quan played a love interest to 34-year-old Ariana DeBose in 'Love Hurts.' Flip the gender, though, and the most memorable older woman/younger man romance onscreen remains 1967's 'The Graduate,' with Anne Bancroft initiating an affair with Dustin Hoffman (although in real life, the two were actually just six years apart). So why the new trend in romance? Experts told TheWrap that, while May-December romances aren't as common in real life as Hollywood would make you believe, this spate of films tackling this topic reflect the natural evolution of roles for women, especially as they're given more access and agency in Hollywood to create the roles themselves. And as more women are in positions of power at the studios making these kinds of movies — from Jennifer Salke at Amazon Studios to Donna Langley at Universal to Bela Bajaria at Netflix — roles for women over 40, including romantic leads, are gaining prominence. 'I think that it is, in some ways, a very logical next step of women claiming a space in Hollywood to be an older woman,' Sarah Banet-Weiser, Dean at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and Associate for the USC Gender Studies Program, told TheWrap. 'Claiming that space also means a new recognition, and a new kind of revaluing of a woman over 50, their ideas, their sexuality, their agency,' she said. Dr. Jessica Carbino, who got her PhD at UCLA and worked as a sociologist for dating apps Tinder and Bumble, agreed, adding that women in Hollywood may be establishing more independence, and even control, with stories like this. 'I think what's going on is you're seeing a cultural moment in which there's this broader understanding, maybe born out of the #MeToo movement, where there are more films, more books being written about women in ways that challenge conventional norms,' Carbino said, 'and that provide them with a certain air of control and potential dominance, and questions about what that means in relationships.' Women are also the creative force behind many of these stories, which makes a difference. 'Babygirl' was written and directed by Halina Reijn, and Kidman said bluntly she doesn't think she could have given the same performance with a male director. 'Lonely Planet' was written and directed by Susannah Grant. And though directed by Michael Showalter, 'The Idea of You' was creatively spearheaded largely by women, with Gabrielle Union, Anne Hathaway and Cathy Schulman all producing and Amazon Studios head Jen Salke steering the project. Speaking to TheWrap in 2024 for the film, Schulman noted that the nature of the production team made a huge impact.'I think a bunch of women came together to make this because we had to tell the story about pulling women out of compartments,' she said at the time. 'This whole idea that you should be one thing at a time; you can be a mother, you can be a grandmother, you could be a worker, you can be a wife, but you can't be everything, and all of it all at the same time. I think it was natural that women would come together because we all feel that.' Schulman also pointed out that, in the case of Union, the idea of falling for a younger man isn't theoretical, as she's nine years older than her husband, Dwyane Wade. And Union's not the only real-life example. Demi Moore was 15 years older than her now ex-husband Ashton Kutcher. Priyanka Chopra-Jonas is 10 years older than her husband. 'These relationships have existed for as long as anyone can remember. It's just that they're not portrayed on screen, and they're starting to now,' Woodall, who plays Zellweger's younger boyfriend in 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,' told TheWrap. He continued: 'And people maybe aren't used to it yet. It's not been normalized as it has the opposite version. And I'm sure we'll see more of it, and people will get more used to it, and then it will sort of be less of a topic of conversation.' Getting to a point where this is unremarkable is the point for many. That's part of what drew Dern to 'Lonely Planet'— the fact that the age difference doesn't get mentioned in the story, and didn't even come up in discussions off screen. 'That's what, for me, felt like the real paradigm shift,' Dern told TheWrap during an interview for the film in October. 'Not that there aren't important stories to tell in which age or differences of experience don't come into it. 'But as someone who, as an actor, especially early in my career, always had sometimes a very large age difference with the actor I was working with, it was never mentioned, nor was it a story point. But often when it's flipped, it is a commented-on aspect of the love story.' According to Banet-Weiser, those comments could be coming because it's a stark departure from how women are typically portrayed in media. 'I think the reason why it's commented on … is because older women are already seen to not be desirable,' she explained to TheWrap. 'They're past their prime. I mean, Don Lemon, when he said that Nikki Haley was past her prime, and she was like, 50, right? … He apologized, but he said it because it makes sense for him to say it.' Carbino added that the attention also comes because 'there is a certain double standard' at play, as people think of a romantic relationship as an exchange of resources and services, where a woman's contribution is 'attractiveness, which is largely associated with youth.' Indeed, a woman's youth is often treated like a commodity — an issue that's made literal in Coralie Fargeat's 'The Substance,' starring Moore as an over-40 actress who takes a drug to create a younger version of herself so that she can prolong her desirability. She and Fargeat both earned Oscar nominations for the film. 'I think that there is a relentless pursuit of feminine youth,' Banet-Weiser said. 'Like the joke about Leonardo DiCaprio breaking up with every woman as soon as she turns 25. There's this idea, and it's rewarded. So men are seen as studs, and they're seen as hyper-masculine, and they're seen as still being able to attract the younger women. 'That path, and that power dynamic, hasn't been as available for older women, because older women themselves are not seen as desirable the way that older men are seen as desirable,' she added, pointing to examples like George Clooney, Robert Redford and Harrison Ford (all of whom are at least 17 years older than their wives). When May-December relationships onscreen make that path available to women, Carbino says, 'It violates all of those understandings — evolutionarily, economically and socially, it's considered taboo or transgressive.' Considering 'The Idea of You,' 'A Family Affair' and 'Babygirl' all found receptive audiences, exploring the taboo has translated into success. And when Hollywood is, as Banet-Weiser noted, 'trying to build as much predictability into an unpredictable system as you can,' focusing on these kinds of relationships is proving to be less of a risk. 'Lo and behold, women over 50 like to watch movies, right? They liked this movie because it positioned them as desirable beings,' she said. 'I think that when we live in a mediated society, we look to the media to recognize ourselves, and if recognition matters, which it does in this culture, then if we don't recognize ourselves, it can have an impact on us that we don't matter and that we aren't valuable.' 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy' may be the latest in this genre, but it likely won't be last. While director Michael Morris says the sequel didn't set out with an agenda to normalize an age-gapped relationship, he certainly doesn't mind joining the club. 'If we're part of a conversation that's a bigger one, that leads to someone saying 'We should just celebrate love. Why don't we try that? If someone's into someone, that's kind of great,' I would be so happy,' he said. 'Because it feels like a relic, all of these conversations.' The post From 'Babygirl' to 'Bridget Jones,' How Women Are Taking Control in May-December Romances appeared first on TheWrap.
