Death-haunted, quietly reckless, Lucy is a young university student who takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty. In the Sleeping Beauty Chamber old men seek an erotic experience that requires Lucy’s absolute submission. This unsettling task starts to bleed into Lucy’s daily life and she develops an increasing need to know what happens to her when she is asleep.
Sleeping Beauty is an Australian drama film that was written and directed by Julia Leigh. It is her debut as a director. The film stars Emily Browning as a young university student who begins doing erotic freelance work in which she is required to sleep in bed alongside paying customers. The film is based in part on the novel The House of the Sleeping Beauties by Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata.
The film premiered in May at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival as the first Competition entry to be screened. It was the first Australian film In Competition at Cannes since Moulin Rouge! (2001). Sleeping Beauty was released in Australia on 23 June 2011. It premiered in US cinemas on 2 December 2011 on limited release. Critical reaction to the film was mixed.
About the Story
Lucy (Emily Browning) is a university student who holds a number of odd jobs: she volunteers as a test subject at the university medical research lab, works at a coffee shop, and makes photocopies at an office. She also attends a high-class bar, offering herself as a sex partner. Her landlord dislikes her, and she spends her time visiting an aloof man, Birdmann (Ewen Leslie), who is attracted to her. Although she does not return his affection, she appears to be happier when with him than at any other time.
Lucy responds to an ad and is invited to meet Clara (Rachael Blake), who describes the job: freelance silver service in lingerie. Lucy agrees, and Clara tells her that she will never be penetrated during these encounters. Clara says she will call Lucy by the name Sarah. Lucy gets beauty treatments before arriving for the event. She is the only girl dressed in white lingerie; the other women seem to be much older, wear severe makeup, and have black lingerie designed to reveal much more than to conceal. The event is a formal dinner party at an elegant home. Lucy serves drinks for the party and goes home with the money she made from it.
After one other session as a serving girl, Lucy gets a call from Clara’s assistant Thomas (Eden Falk) for a different request. Lucy is driven to a country mansion, where Clara informs her that she will drink some tea and then fall into a deep sleep. Lucy is seen lying in a large bed, sedated, as Clara leads in the man who hosted the first dinner party. After Clara reminds the man of the no-penetration rule, he strips, caresses Lucy’s body, and cuddles up next to her.
Lucy is evicted from her room by her landlords. She instead rents a much more expensive apartment. After two more sleeping sessions at Clara’s house, Birdmann calls her; he has overdosed on drugs, and she visits him as he dies. She takes off her shirt and gets in bed with him, sobbing but making no effort to help him. At his funeral, Lucy blandly asks a former acquaintance if he will marry her. Dumbfounded, he refuses, citing his new relationship, and several character flaws in Lucy.
Lucy is fired from her office job and buys a small, concealable camera. She takes drugs with a co-worker, goes night-swimming with him, and wakes up naked in her apartment with him. The next morning, she is hung over and late for her assignment with Clara. Once Lucy arrives, she asks Clara if she can see what happens during the sessions while she is asleep.
Clara refuses, saying it will put her clients at risk of blackmail. Right after being placed on the bed for the session, however, Lucy awakes and removes the small camera which she had concealed in her mouth. She is able to set the camera and return to bed before being discovered. The client is once again the first man, but this time, he also drinks the tea with a much larger dose of the drug.
Sleeping Beauty
Directed by: Julia Leigh
Starring: Emily Browning, Michael Dorman, Mirrah Foulkes, Rachael Blake, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Anni Finsterer, Benita Collings
Screenplay by: Julia Leigh
Production Design by: Annie Beauchamp
Cinematography by: Geoffrey Simpson
Film Editing by: Nick Meyers
Costume Design by: Shareen Beringer
Set Decoration by: Lisa Thompson
Art Direction by: Jocelyn Thomas
Music by: Ben Frost
MPAA Rating: None.
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Release Date: December 2, 2011
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