Already waiting for a YouTuber who will put this idea into a montage!!
Because boy…. this would be the absolute coolest thing ever.

Imagine:
Babygirl, but only Samuel’s scenes.
And in the bottom we see a banner indicating “Real Samuel” or “Imaginary Samuel”!

Okay, so what is this post about?

In the first two weeks of 2025, I saw Babygirl twice and gave it a copious amount of provocative thought.

My most important conclusion was that because of reasons that I will explain to you in a moment, the movie can be seen as having not one Samuel in it, but two;
One imagined, and one real.

And I would have kept it at that, had it not been for the THIRD time I watched this movie, and very much to my own surprise, came to the shocking conclusion that this take on it held up way better than could be expected!

That the entire movie can really be seen in this way.
Way more accurately than I imagined it would.

So!
Before I begin, a very important matter of consent, safe space and disclaimers here.

A.k.a. a spoiler warning.

We’re gonna cut to the bone here.

This article is definitely not a safe space for casual visitors, or people who have not seen the movie.
The whole thing won’t make sense, and you’ll just get upset for it being overwhelming.

So.

Now that we’re among mutuals, let me figure out what the best way is to go about this….

There is a 30 minute video where I explain how I got to my new original take on this movie.
But I acknowledge that you’ll probably be more comfortable reading.
So I’ll be taking from the video what is essential for the reading.
And this post, the scene-by-scene breakdown (or buildup!), will start with an excerpt from the video.

The video
click here to see it (optional, because I’ll also summarize)->
https://youtu.be/jhFRpzlcDcU

“Babygirl (2024) Masterful Ending Explained (the way they’ll see it in 2045!)”
was recorded on 14 January 2025

There are timestamps and a story outline, in the description box below the video.
Watch it on YouTube to access it.

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The Theory of the 2 Samuels

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Yesterday, I watched Babygirl for the third time, and although unfortunately I did not make notes -because I did not intend to write this post-
I did watch it, checking if my theory of the two Samuels, as proposed in the video, held up.

Much to my own amazement, it actually did!

So what was the theory?

In the video, I identify a scene at the end of Babygirl, that changes everything.

It is the scene that seems to be constructed from different elements that cannot have happened that way, if we take the rest of the movie at face value.
Which means the scene must be a fantasy.
And considering the way it is sliced into the scene where she’s having sex with her husband, it’s probably an erotic fantasy.

The scene I am talking about is a bare chested Samuel, in the hotelroom they once used together, and with the dog from their meet-cute on the sidewalk.

I argue that since we have not seen anything about Romy’s inner-world in the rest of the movie, except for childhood memories and those were just in stroboscopic fashion, this means that according to the logic of cinema, this just changed the whole premise of the movie.

If we have been watching only REALITY + stroboscopic flashes of her childhood for the whole movie, only to then suddenly get an entirely fleshed out scene looking very REAL in the final minutes of the movie?
Then this means that everything we thought was real throughout the whole movie, could also be a fantasy.

It’s like the beef Star Wars fans had with the sequel trilogy (actually there was simply too much beef to report here, but this was one of them);
If you suddenly change the way The Force works, or how death works, you are changing four decades of Star Wars Canon.

In the same way the moment Babygirl closes with a whole scene suggesting we’re looking at someone’s inner world/ imagination, it has changed the canon of the movie.

In the video I refer to the movie Fight Club as the text book example of an entire movie where the viewer learns in the final scenes they have been looking at a fantasy.
That Tyler Durden never existed.

In the same way, the final scene opens the possibility that Samuel never existed and that it was her imagination all along.

Or, which would be even more interesting that just like in Fight Club, the character of Samuel is based on someone she sees in real life.

In Fight Club it’s someone he sees on the opposing escalator. In Babygirl it would be the young man on the street calming the dog down.
But that Babygirl takes it up a notch;
And keeps the original (real) Samuel in the movie, as well as her sexually brazen version of him.

That where Fight Club was about one fictional character (Tyler Durden, based on the man on the escalator), Babygirl is about a fictional character (sexy Samuel) but that the real Samuel is still around as well.

This is my Theory of the 2 Samuels.

And that the whole movie we’re watching Imaginary Samuel having a very good time, but also seeing the Real Samuel struggle with the weird tension between him and Romy.
And ultimately catching up and inviting her into his life with the rave scene.

Unlike Tyler Durden in Fight Club, Samuel in Babygirl would then not be an entirely fictional character.
But someone who doesn’t make a pass until weeks after his imaginary counterpart has already done so.

This, is the theory of the 2 Samuels.
And it is this theory I checked yesterday.
And without a notebook to jot things down, so my recollection will definitely not be perfect!

Originally I thought I’d wait for the dvd to write this final analysis, but waiting so long is not really my style.
So I’m gonna have a go at it, and discuss the scenes I remember.

 

part I) Timeline of Imaginary Samuel

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Meet cute: Real Samuel
Romy sees a man on the street calming the dog down.
In the theory of the two Samuels, this would be the starting point where she starts fantasizing.
This is the moment Imaginary Samuel, is born.

All scenes where Samuel is fictional:
-the one who gets her coffee and tells her how he calmed the dog down
-the one smoking with her on the roof terrace, announcing he’ll choose her as her mentor
-the one with the 10 minute interview in the soundproof room. And kissing her.
(and doing the same mathematics she is capable of. A sign he=a projection)
-the one saying “goodgirl” to her after the drinks after work
(and she either ordered her own milk, or this was a very bold move from Real Samuel)
-the one asking her for a second appointment for his mentorship
-the one in the elevator telling her the bruise on her cheek looks good on her
-the one smoking on the street at night, looking up to the building
(in Romy’s imagination, waiting for her to find the note on her desk. The note mirrors the notes she writes for her daughter, and I would not be surprised if screenshots revealed the same handwriting)
-the one in the first hotelroom
(wearing a backpack like her daughters, and a hoodie like her older daughter, and having sex with her in a way that mimics her own self-pleasure practice; all signs he is a figure of her imagination)
-the one having sex with her (INXS Never Tear Us Apart compilation)
-the one in the soundproof room, for the second time.
Granting her a 7 minute interview.
-the second hotelroom, including the Father Figure sequence and conversation in bed and where he asks her to hold him.
-the one in the final fantasy where she thinks about him, while having sex with her husband. With this extra layer, this is actually an imagined imaginary Samuel. Romy has constructed a fantasy, unaware that Real Samuel has never been in that hotelroom.

All these scenes are imaginary Samuel.
Like I said I did not make notes, so this list might be incomplete.

Up for debate:
-the one in the car, being dropped off at the station (probably imaginary Samuel)
This scene where Romy says they can’t see each other anymore, as well as his response it’s innocent and they’re playing like children, could still be valid if it’s Real Samuel and they are only flirting. And he interprets the whole thing as her being upset because he has showed up at her house.

Up for debate:
-the whole mentorship thing (probably imaginary Samuel)
I’m gonna go with there never having been a mentorship with Samuel, at all.
And all those scenes around mentorship (with the exception of their group class) having been imaginary Samuel.
The only point where this (scenes about mentorship being an imaginary Samuel) goes off, but only slightly, is when Hazal answers a question from Romy, on who added her to the mentoring program.
Because Hazal confirms that Romy’s name has been added to that list.
So if we choose to have Samuel’s entire menteeship with Romy being fictional, then it means no intern has chosen Romy as their mentor.
Hazal simply added her to the list.
(but maybe it was more subtle and Hazal’s answer was more general and never confirmed Romy’s name was on the list)

Anyway;
I do think that Romy’s firm “I’m not a part of that (mentor) program”, is a clue!!
I think her denial about being in the program in the first place, is directly linked to their relationship, at least the bigger part of it, being imaginary.

In my take on this movie, (Real) Samuel is then simply a very confused intern, who does not catch up to the potential of his relationship to Romy, until the final 30 minutes of the movie.

Let’s breakdown in which scenes we see this, very confused, “Real” Samuel, slowly stepping into Romy’s life!
It is surprising how this story can be seen in Babygirl, now, exactly as it is (but it would be more clear if someone would make a YouTube video!)

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part II) Timeline of Real Samuel

 

Meet cute: Real Samuel
Romy sees a man on the street calming the dog down. In the theory of the two Samuels, this is the moment Real Samuel sees Romy.
Who he will later learn, is the CEO of the company he is starting his internship.

All group settings: Real Samuel
The group coming into Romy’s office and Samuel asking a question;
Samuel getting educated about company policies, and informed about the party;
Samuel interacting with others in the elevator;
Samuel at the all parties (office drinks, Christmas party and party daughter);
Samuel bringing coffee for her male colleague;
Samuel coming to the mansion with the pool, to bring her laptop;
Samuel working at the bar;
Samuel at the rave;
Samuel showing up at the mansion, swimming in the pool;
Samuel lying with her on the floor, talking about how they messed with each other’s head;
Samuel confronted by her husband;
Samuel exiting the house and leaving her alone with her husband;
All, Real Samuel.

Up for debate: Samuel with Esme (probably Real Samuel)
It is questionable if Esme exists, or if like Samuel she is (partly) imaginary. She has the same color phone as Romy (bright red), and she has the same confidence as Samuel does.
There is something very isolated about how she functions within the company, and unclear what kind of position she is in (that she’d doing Romy’s make-up?)
Which suggests she may be a reflection of Romy’s internal life.
For now I am going to go with it being Real Samuel (and Real Esme)
This means the scenes:
– where Romy watches Esme and Samuel on the roof terrace
– and the one where Esme shows up with Samuel at Romy’s daughter’s party;
Are all Real Samuel too.

the kitchen argument at the party: Real Samuel
(Setup for start of intimacy with Real Samuel)

From Real Samuel’s perspective, Romy is a CEO from whom he’s getting very mixed signals.
Her showing up at his work at the Club – a place he mentioned when he was at her house to bring her laptop (and she responded cold and aggressively) – was the moment he understood there was more to her.
But he had not known for sure, until the female CEO had showed up in the middle of the night at the bar where he worked.
Sure, he had sent her away, treating her just as badly as she had treated him when he was just doing his job bringing her laptop.
But he remembered feeling more than a little attracted to the woman so boldly stepping into his life.

But he had not known for sure until the kitchen moment, at the party he had come to, with Esme.
First Romy had Whatsapped him to come to the kitchen, and then she had been infuriated at him for being involved with Esme.

Although they covered up the awkward situation for Esme, Samuel now knew it was time to act.
That night, he invited Romy for a Rave.

 

The Rave: Real Samuel
(Start of intimacy with Real Samuel)

In the timeline of Real Samuel, the kiss on the dancefloor is their first. And they talk one on one for the first time as well.
Lying down, looking at the stars.

 

“Do you do with her what you do with me?”: Real Samuel
Question by Romy.

I don’t remember if Romy says this line after the rave, or at the mansion in the final scene.
And if all of the sex scenes were imaginary, this is one of the more difficult lines to place.
But even when Samuel and Romy have not had sex at all, their confusing cat and mouse game, or even visiting the rave itself, could still cover for her question:
“Do you do with her what you do with me?”

 

Esme finds out: Real Samuel

The next day Esme shows up at Romy’s house, and says she “knows about her and Samuel”.
This is still congruent with this new interpretation of the movie, because she could have found out about the rave.
If we go with the “2 Samuels” this conversation is still valid, just referring to something else.

 

The Mansion with the Pool
(ending of an affair that never took off with Real Samuel)

In the version of the movie with the two Samuel’s, Samuel showing up at the mansion where Romy goes to after a breakup from her husband, is only the second time they see each other in a private setting.

We see her on the phone, so it’s very logical she informed him about the breakup, and that she was at the mansion.
(a location he knew from having brought her laptop there)

To Samuel this is all just a continuation from the rave. He does not know Esme has said anything to Romy about her not being allowed to see him anymore.
All he knows is that she’s alone, and broke up with her husband.

We see him swimming in the pool, Romy joining, and the two of them on the floor talking about how they messed with each other’s head, when Jacob, Romy’s husband comes in.

In the argument that follows, the elements referring to the “type” of sex Romy wants, or the type of lover Samuel is, are still within the margins of the believable, if Samuel and Romy never slept together at that point.

Jacob claims female masochism is a male fantasy, and that Romy used him/Samuel.

Real Samuel (who has not slept with her at this point, let alone have a dominant/sub relationship with her) simply sees a woman who wanted to cheat on him, a husband who is upset because of it, and all Samuel does is point out that Jacob has an outdated idea.

Jacob gets a panic attack and Samuel calms him down exactly the way he did with the dog, the very first scene where he and Romy met.

In this new interpretation of the movie Real Samuel and Romy do not have sex, because she chose her husband.
And he no longer wants to be around so he leaves.

 

The End (both real and imaginary Samuel)

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To Romy both men are the same. 
She thinks she has had an affair for weeks and we see her distancing herself from “both” Real as well as Imaginary Samuel, after the moment Jacob has walked into Real Samuel and her, at the mansion.
She wants to fight for her marriage.

We hear Samuel has gone to Japan, but see no proof of that.
So we do not know what happens to Samuel. Not to either one of them.

Maybe they started an affair, but keep it under the wraps.
Making up a story about him moving out of the country, as a diversion.
And even if Real Samuel did leave for Japan, Romy could still believe he stayed in town and that they became lovers once again.

And that in a hotelroom not so far away, Romy and Samuel are still making love.

Happily ever after.

Suzanne L. Beenackers
20th century writer, diarist & yoga teacher

Hungry for more?
Previously in the Babygirl series:
1) But will it satisfy the spoiled ones? | pre-screening musings
2) Babygirl (2024) get Hollywood on its knees
3) A Hidden Hero’s Journey? Or Tyler Durden reimagined? | closing musings on Babygirl (2024)
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On my other blog:
liberate now | What Do Rock Stars Need To Hear Today 2025 01 06
And I created a video:
Rock Star Take On SEXUALITY
As well as another video, as mentioned already in this blogpost
Babygirl (2024) Masterful Ending Explained (the way they’ll see it in 2045!)

“Babygirl: The Theory of the 2 Samuels”
was the grand final to all my posts about the movie Babygirl.
All work created first half of January 2025.

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