Sleeping Beauty: A More Sinister Telling Of A Classic Fairy Tale

We all know the story of Sleeping Beauty. Ever since Disney’s 1959 film, it’s been a childhood staple. This year, director Julia Leigh created an adaptation that is far seedier than the traditional childhood fairy tale. A powerful and provocative film, Sleeping Beauty‘s subject matter can be hard to swallow at points and some of the behavior exhibited in the film is far from the societal norm. By no means is this meant for children.

Keeping with the thread of a young woman in a deep sleep, Leigh explores the ideas of youth, beauty, sexuality, power, and a female’s role as defined by these societal values.

Sleeping Beauty tells the story of Lucy, a young university student in Australia who works as a waitress, copy-room attendant and human lab rat (she gets paid for allowing a medical student to stick a tube down her throat and inflate a small balloon in her lungs).  In need of rent money, Lucy takes on another rather odd part-time job, which lands her in the seedy, sexually charged underbelly of a high-end world.

After a thorough examination of her body by her 40-something female employer, Lucy begins work as a waitress for fancy dinner parties. She is one of many young women in scanty lingerie that serve wealthy, older dinner guests. Though Lucy, beautifully acted by Emily Browning, does not engage in prostitution in the traditional sense of the word, she is selling her body.

Doing exceedingly well in her role, Lucy is invited to her employer’s house where she is put into a drug-induced sleep and older men are allowed to do what they wish with her. The one rule of this exclusive club is that there is no penetration. This idea of boundaries and of access is something that repeats itself throughout the film.  There is a contrast between Lucy’s youth and beauty and the men’s wrinkled, decrepit exteriors.  We see Lucy’s inability to love a friend of hers who she visits daily, who is clearly in love with her despite her ability to reciprocate.

Lucy herself is a paradox. She seems so sweet, innocent, and childlike, yet is excessively involved in adult behavior. She sleeps with random strangers, is involved in a niche sex club, and does all kinds of drugs. She leaves the fate of her body to the toss of coin, playing a dangerous game of give and take.

The film is potent and though it follows a narrative, exists in a dreamlike state, haltingly jumping from scene to scene leaving the viewer catching up every step of the way. While the movie was beautifully shot and acted, I must say that I wasn’t satisfied after stepping out of the theater, and I think that’s a common reaction. The film is a lot to digest and is better appreciated after a few hours or days of settling in.

It is technically sound and expertly contrasts the invasive with the passive, the beautiful with the almost grotesque. While I don’t recommend it for everyone, especially those who blush easily,  the film is definitely worth watching.

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