🎬 Sleeping Beauty (2011) – A haunting adventure into a world of subjugation and control
Director: Julia Leigh
Starring: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Ewen Leslie, Peter Carroll
Genre: Drama, Erotic Mystery
Language: English
Duration: 101 minutes
Country: Australia
Overview:
Sleeping Beauty (2011) is a haunting and skillfully crafted Australian drama, marking the directorial debut of novelist Julia Leigh. The film is not a fairy tale, but a provocative and intellectual exploration of a young woman’s journey into a surreal and morally ambiguous world of eroticism and contempt.
Plot Summary:
Emily Browning stars as Lucy, a quiet and mysterious college student struggling to make ends meet. Taking on a variety of jobs—from waitressing to volunteering in research labs—she eventually finds herself drawn into a mysterious and exclusive business where her body becomes a canvas for others’ desires.
In her new role, Lucy is sedated and left unconscious in a luxurious room, allowing wealthy clients to lie next to her—never to enter, only to observe or act out their fantasies under strict rules. As Lucy descends deeper into this dark underworld, she begins to lose control of her identity and question the boundaries between consent, commodification, and power.
Themes & Style:
Consent and Passivity: The film deliberately blurs the lines between activity and submission, raising uncomfortable questions about the nature of choice and control.
Erotica without Glamour: Unlike traditional erotic films, Sleeping Beauty is cold, clinical, and haunting in its detachment.
Minimalist Cinematography: Long takes, soft colors, and sparse dialogue emphasize the alienation and silence of Lucy’s world. Psychological Symbolism: Echoes of Eyes Wide Shut and Belle de Jour are present throughout the film’s quiet yet haunting atmosphere.
Lucy is a college student who works in an office during the day and at a restaurant in the evening. She is occasionally a research subject in a science lab.
Lucy is paying her tuition and rent by working multiple jobs. Her sister’s boyfriend continues to demand that she pay the rent. She is taking care of Birdmann, an alcoholic who has a crush on her. Although she does not return his feelings, Lucy enjoys Birdmann’s company, and when she is with him, it is the only time she is seen smiling or laughing. An old joke between the two is that Birdmann frequently proposes to Lucy; Lucy always refuses. Due to lack of money and Birdmann’s addiction, Lucy decides to find another part-time job.
Responding to a classified ad for another short-term job, Lucy meets Clara, who runs a combined lingerie modeling and catering service where young women perform at a formal dinner party for mostly male clients. Clara assures her that men are not allowed to touch women sexually, and Lucy agrees to try. Clara examines Lucy’s body and names her “Sara” for anonymity. At the dinner party, Lucy is the only girl wearing white; the other women wear black lingerie that is much more revealing than Lucy’s outfit.
After another session as a maid, Lucy is promoted. She receives a call from Clara’s assistant about another request. Lucy is taken to a country estate, where Clara offers Lucy a new role, in which she will be voluntarily sedated and sleep naked while male customers lie next to her. They are allowed to caress and fondle her, but are not allowed to penetrate her vaginally.[12] After Lucy falls asleep, she lies unconscious on the bed and Clara leads in her customers. After Clara reminds the man of the no-penetration rule, he strips and curls up next to Lucy.
After a few such sessions, Lucy has enough money to move to a larger, more expensive apartment, where she lives alone. She receives a call from Birdmann, who has overdosed on painkillers. She goes to his house and finds him dying in bed. After a dying man’s final request, she breaks down in tears, strips off her shirt, and climbs into bed with him, but he dies in her arms. At Birdmann’s funeral, Lucy abruptly asks an old boyfriend if he wants to marry her, just like Birdmann’s old joke. However, the old boyfriend doesn’t understand her, takes her seriously, and is shocked, rejecting her, citing some of Lucy’s personal problems as the reason.
In the next mission with Clara, Lucy asks if she can watch what happens during the sessions while she is sleeping. Clara refuses, saying that it would put her client at risk of blackmail. Lucy decides to secretly film her next encounter. The client is once again the first man, but this time, he also drinks tea with a much larger dose of sleeping pills.
The next morning, Clara enters and checks the man’s pulse, not surprisingly finding that he cannot be awakened. Clara attempts to wake Lucy, who has also overdosed, and is eventually able to revive her with CPR. Lucy begins to scream when she sees the dead man lying in bed next to her.[
The film ends with the hidden camera recording: the dead old man and the sleeping girl lying perfectly side by side in bed.
