Margot Robbie, the ever-glamorous Aussie and newly inducted member of the Mom Club, is still scratching her perfectly sculpted head over Babylon’s box office belly flop. In case you missed it (and apparently, a lot of you did), the 2022 Damien Chazelle-directed film had Margot sharing the screen with Brad Pitt and Diego Calva in a raucous ode to old Hollywood. Critics? Divided. Audiences? Let’s just say they stayed home watching The Office reruns.
On a recent episode of the Talking Pictures podcast, Margot and host Ben Mankiewicz bonded over their shared bewilderment. Ben confessed that while watching Babylon, he kept asking himself, “Why don’t people like this movie?” Margot, with the candor of someone who has nothing to lose because she’s Margot freaking Robbie, chimed in, “I am still saying that. I love it.”
Same, Margot. Same.
She elaborated: “I know I’m biased because, duh, I was in it. But I still can’t wrap my head around why people hated it. Like, are we sure this isn’t a case of mass hypnosis or something?” She then pulled out the Shawshank Redemption card, noting how that movie tanked in theaters before becoming every dad’s favorite film during holiday marathons. “Maybe in 20 years, people will look back and say, ‘Wait, *Babylon* flopped? That’s bananas.’”
And honestly, she might be onto something. Who doesn’t love a messy, chaotic, three-hour film about the debauchery of early Hollywood? Okay, maybe most people. But there’s still time for the streaming gods to swoop in and give Babylon its overdue glow-up.
Meanwhile, Margot is moving on to greener pastures—or perhaps windier ones. She’s set to star in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights. So, if you’re not ready to forgive yourself for skipping Babylon, you can at least prepare to watch Margot brooding on the moors in the most dramatic weather possible.
Your move, future cinephiles. Make Babylon your Shawshank. Or at least give it a pity rewatch on Paramount+.