Featured Audience Ratings

• Wildaly M

  
  I fell asleep halfway through the first time I saw it.

• Manu G

  
  A haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires. Total waste of time. It will more likely turn you into a sleeping beauty instead..The debut feature film by novelist Julia Leigh is anything but artistic, which is a… More
  A haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires. Total waste of time. It will more likely turn you into a sleeping beauty instead..The debut feature film by novelist Julia Leigh is anything but artistic, which is a goal that she obviously set out to achieve. It was the lack of emotion throughout the film which ultimately made it all style without any substance. As much as I wanted to like the film, it was guilty of pretentious overload. Some people might still get something out of the movie its images or will read deeper into some of the movie its moments but personally I got very little out of this movie. It was a very empty movie story-wise and an emotionally bland one, that by the end left nothing more than a very redundant impression on me. Lucy is a university student who is working a number of jobs. She volunteers at a research lab, works at a coffee shop, and as a photocopy cerk in an office. She responds to an advertisement and embarks on an erotic freelance job in which she is required to sleep in bed alongside paying customers.

• Anthony L

  
  For me Sleeping Beauty is a story of passiveness, power and sleep. A politic or social statement perhaps, our protagonist is a sleepwalker, she is never truly awake. She works hard at several jobs, goes to Uni and cares for her sick friend and is submissive to everyone. She lets the… More
  For me Sleeping Beauty is a story of passiveness, power and sleep. A politic or social statement perhaps, our protagonist is a sleepwalker, she is never truly awake. She works hard at several jobs, goes to Uni and cares for her sick friend and is submissive to everyone. She lets the wealthy and powerful dominate her, exploit her and do as they will with her, quite literally, for money. She is the eternal sleepwalker, a lost soul in the sea of society. Aren't we all working hard, selling our souls little by little, working for the man? The real tragedy is that she so longs to be rescued (the only real link to the fairytale) but no one does, she is alone. It's a great debut from directer Julia Leigh (not Mike's daughter) and another in a successful succession of Aussie films of late - an industry that has been overlooked and unappreciated for too long! Its only fault is that for all its visual beauty and excellent script, you just can't help but look away during certain scenes and when a film makes you want to look away it's not doing something right, right? There are always exceptions. It had to be provocative to tell the story the way it was intended and it certainly wasn't sexy - which was also a very important thing to get right, it is cringe-worthy at times but importantly so. Destined to be misunderstood, there are people on flixster who have rated this film poorly but have given 5 stars to Gaspar Noé's Irreversible - maybe it needs a re-watch but then it is quite hard to sit through at times to be fair. It really needs to be seen because it is a great film, it's not just a soft-porn film, anyone who thinks so is completely missing the point (and is a bit perverse).

• Drew S

  
  Sleeping Beauty is the kind of film destined for just about every hollow criticism that can conceivably be levied at an art house film - exploitative, pretentious, boring, meaningless...shit, "art house" is practically a criticism in its own right anymore. Such criticisms,… More
  Sleeping Beauty is the kind of film destined for just about every hollow criticism that can conceivably be levied at an art house film - exploitative, pretentious, boring, meaningless...shit, "art house" is practically a criticism in its own right anymore. Such criticisms, naturally, discount the film's wealth of offerings, not the least of which is its consistently stunning visual presentation and the rich but near-silently explored dissections of femininity, consciousness and sacrifice. Pulsing with dark sonic and atmospheric energy and buoyed by an excellent performance by Emily Browning, Sleeping Beauty is a real treat for the open-minded, patient viewer.

• Markus R

  
  Um wow...first let me preface this review by saying that this is not your mom's "Sleeping Beauty". And what I mean by that is to say that this "Sleeping Beauty" is so far from the happy-go-lucky Disney version in its depictions of depravity (and its lack of… More
  Um wow...first let me preface this review by saying that this is not your mom's "Sleeping Beauty". And what I mean by that is to say that this "Sleeping Beauty" is so far from the happy-go-lucky Disney version in its depictions of depravity (and its lack of entertainment value), the fact that a film like this would carry the same name as the beloved cartoon may be the most disturbing aspect of this film altogether. Anyways, "Sleeping Beauty" is the highly anticipated Australian film, directed by Julia Leigh and starring the very pale Emily Browning (Sucker Punch). Before I move forward, let me also preface this review by stating that for long spans of this film I didn't actually know what was going on, because while this extremely adult "rehashing" of a long standing fairytale does consist of some excellent cinematography, there is very little in terms of a competent storytelling throughout. This film tells the pointless story of a sexually confused young woman named Lucy, who takes a job as a call-girl of sorts (all while seemingly holding down three other jobs and going to school). But it's not what you may think because this prostitution-like job consists of Lucy ingesting a pill, which renders her unconscious as elderly and very wealthy men pay indeterminate sums of money to sleep next to her and defile her in every way that excludes penetration. But even if you find this odd synopsis intriguing, which you shouldn't because it is really a train-wreck when you actually sit down and watch it. "Sleeping Beauty" takes so long (almost an hour) getting to its main plot-point, that by the time anything of "relevance" begins to happen many may have long checked out. Meanwhile, for the first hour of this bore-fest, audiences are subjected to a mind numbing and at times excruciatingly irrelevant looks into the day to day minutia of Lucy's poorly written life. Overall, the worst thing about Julia Leigh's "Sleeping Beauty" is that as intensely meaningless as it seemed to this reviewer, sadly from what I've heard there is a rather strong point Leigh was attempting to get across about female independence...or something. In fact, there may have been an obscure or abstract motif that Leigh had in mind when making this film, but something must have been lost in translation because the end result is that everything on-screen simply comes off as worthless. When I said before that the films look was excellent, I really meant the production value of the film seems like that of really high quality. But please don't let that fool you because in actuality many of the scenes throughout "Sleeping Beauty" (aside from being rather trivial) are like looking at million dollar paintings of tasteless images. Resembling the likes of movies such as "Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom" (without the torture or excrement consumption) and Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" (without the good direction), Leigh's arthouse film about women's empowerment...or misogyny (I'm still not sure which) quickly turns into an exploitation piece, as mounds of meaningless nudity are flung at the audience in a revolting fashion throughout the film. Furthermore, the exploitation of the women in particular here does become noticeably forced, as the audience is subjected to scenes where women are made to walk about as waiters during lavish banquets with their genitalia exposed or other scenes where women are made to get down on all fours while men stare at their exposed backsides and sip coffee. And while those scenes will have you wondering what it was that brought you to watch "Sleeping Beauty" to begin with, the scenes with Browning as the central figure are definitely the most insensitive to her integrity as an actress. From the juxtaposition of scenes where she is ingesting a medical breathing tube and scenes that allude to sexual ingestion, to a scene where Browning's nude body is literally flung around a room while her character is supposedly unconscious; I realize that she signed on for this but some of the things she does in this film seemed almost as if Leigh was attempting to humiliate her in front of a viewing audience, much in the same manner as Roger Ebert so famously claimed that David Lynch had done to Isabella Rossellini in "Blue Velvet". The difference between Lynch and Leigh though, is that Lynch has some artistic integrity no matter how weird his films are. All Leigh seems to have done here is given the audience a gritty look at an allusive metaphor for something (who knows what) that nobody cares about. Final Thought: For a film that has been touted as a "brilliant work" from countless international film critics, "Sleeping Beauty" stands as one of the most pointless films I have ever seen. Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Keith Robinson Please visit my page on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-52464-San-Jose-Indie-Movie-Examiner and leave any comments you have about this or any review. The more hits I get the better. Thank you.

• Nicki M

  
  Just when you think Australia can't do a decent film, along comes this one. Wow! I liked everything about this, beautifully filmed but tragic story. I especially liked how the loungeroom looked so elegant in the evening and then so shabby by day time. The cast are great. Very… More
  Just when you think Australia can't do a decent film, along comes this one. Wow! I liked everything about this, beautifully filmed but tragic story. I especially liked how the loungeroom looked so elegant in the evening and then so shabby by day time. The cast are great. Very understated performances considering the disturbing subject matter. Motives aren't discussed and you don't get a huge sense of what motivates Lucy, but I think, like the real sleeping beauty, she is hoping to be rescued, hence her asking several of the men if they will marry her. I don't think everyone will love this and it's sure not a fairy story, but well worth a look.

• John H

  
  One of the trashiest nonsensical disasters I have ever seen. Horrible story, horrible directing, horrible editing. horrible everything. It seemed like a movie made just to give whoever played the role of Lucy some full frontal nudity ever 5 or 10 minutes between scenes. There's… More
  One of the trashiest nonsensical disasters I have ever seen. Horrible story, horrible directing, horrible editing. horrible everything. It seemed like a movie made just to give whoever played the role of Lucy some full frontal nudity ever 5 or 10 minutes between scenes. There's another thing. Was it like 3 different stories going on with this girl all at the same time? I didn't quite get it. She went around doing alot of odd jobs so she could pay her overdue rent. And... none of those jobs have any real boundaries or realistic value.

• Pedro H

  
  <i> Sleeping Beauty </i> <b>Awkward</b> A <b>Horrible</b> movie. This movie is pure nonsense that claims to be "artistic". This is one of the most pointless movies I have seen this year, everything is bad about it except the beauty… More
  <i> Sleeping Beauty </i> <b>Awkward</b> A <b>Horrible</b> movie. This movie is pure nonsense that claims to be "artistic". This is one of the most pointless movies I have seen this year, everything is bad about it except the beauty photography. I will make sure to never again watch something made my Julia Leigh or trust a movie by its trailer. The story is about Lucy (Browning) a student that struggles economically and therefore decides to sell her beauty and become a sleeping prostitute. I was cheated by my senses and thought that this movie would have something to do with the original Sleeping Beauty story, but this has nothing to do with it, in fact this movie doesn't follow a plot, its pure non-sense. I highly <b>do not recommend</b> this movie to anyone. Stay away! The only thing worth seeing is the beautiful photography and unique gothic erotic style. <u>Clara:</u> <i>"We will discuss particulars"</i>

• c0up  

  
  'Sleeping Beauty'. A brave directorial debut confronting male sexuality and an almost existential disconnect of its characters. Emily Browning's subdued, but extremely, physical [for lack of a better word] and open performance was daring, and so many times throughout… More
  'Sleeping Beauty'. A brave directorial debut confronting male sexuality and an almost existential disconnect of its characters. Emily Browning's subdued, but extremely, physical [for lack of a better word] and open performance was daring, and so many times throughout the film, I couldn't imagine how she must have been feeling when certain sequences were being shot. I found it extremely difficult to get any meaning out of it at first glance, and the Q&A with Jane Campion and Julia Leigh done by Margaret Pomeranz gleaned a little more insight, sadly not through the director herself though. Leigh was quite cagey in her responses, and I'm fine with a story not having a meaning, but I at least want to understand the director's vision. It was left to Campion to explain the existential qualities of the characters and the theme of wilting male dominance with age and their need for a Sleeping Beauty.

• The Movie W

  
  Leigh's highly impressive debut tells the story of Browning, a young student who takes a job where rich elderly men pay to share a bed with her naked sleeping body. On the outset it may sound like a dark concept but Leigh has fashioned it into a refreshingly liberal take on the… More
  Leigh's highly impressive debut tells the story of Browning, a young student who takes a job where rich elderly men pay to share a bed with her naked sleeping body. On the outset it may sound like a dark concept but Leigh has fashioned it into a refreshingly liberal take on the sex industry. If there's a villain in this story it's Browning herself. It's implied that she had a manipulative past and treated people like objects, leading to an ambiguous incident which lead to a male friend becoming an alcoholic. She pays him daily visits and sleeps in his arms yet always has to face away from him, shedding tears of guilt. It's this guilt that leads her into a line of work where she herself is objectified and manipulated. She's not in it for the money as in one scene she sets a hundred dollar bill on fire, just to watch it burn. To force herself to continue in her newfound job she rents a ridiculously expensive apartment which she doesn't even furnish with curtains. Hers is a penance she must abide with. I could be wrong but I believe Australia has some very liberal laws regarding prostitution and there's certainly none of the demonising of the trade you would get in an American film for example. Her clients aren't allowed indulge in penetration and her presence is more therapeutic than mere sexual gratification. One of the elderly men tragically lost his wife at a very young age. Unable to allow himself sexual relations with a woman since, he pays for Browning's services simply to evoke the memory of sleeping next to his wife's young body. Australian film-makers seem to have a deeply engrained sense of what makes cinema work. Their film industry only really began in the seventies but they took to it with relish. Maybe it's the lack of the burden of a literary or theatrical history, something which has blighted the film industry of Britain and most certainly my native country Ireland. A badly made Aussie film is a rare thing indeed, and this is incredibly well crafted. The shot composition is some of the most beautiful you'll see outside of a Kubrick film and Leigh has a great sense of colour, contrasting the warmth of the interiors of the brothel with the cold harshness of Browning's other so-called normal jobs. The fact that Leigh is a novelist making her first foray into film makes this debut all the more impressive. We have ourselves an exciting new talent and I look forward to her future work.

• Walter M

  
  In "Sleeping Beauty," Lucy(Emily Browning) is a university student who is sleepwalking through life. Even with about 37 part-time jobs, she cannot to pay the rent on her apartment, probably due to her hectic night life. So she calls about a help wanted ad in the student… More
  In "Sleeping Beauty," Lucy(Emily Browning) is a university student who is sleepwalking through life. Even with about 37 part-time jobs, she cannot to pay the rent on her apartment, probably due to her hectic night life. So she calls about a help wanted ad in the student newspaper where she answers some very personal questions over the telephone. The interview is even more thorough as she is fully inspected, as Clara(Rachael Blake) tells her that it will be a freelancing job serving men dinner in her lingerie. And there will be no vaginal penetration. Good to know. With the fine skill it is made, "Sleeping Beauty" is better than mere exploitation, but as provocation it is fairly empty, considering that after the abrupt ending, I am still not sure what the point was.(Please tell me it had nothing to do with the story the old man was telling because I was zoning out right about then.) And while Emily Browning gives a physically courageous performance, it was alas not an emotionally brave one, making it very hard to get a handle on her character. Some of that might be down to the writing as all we know about Lucy is that she is on her own and estranged from her mother(whether she is actually a violent alcoholic is up for debate) with scattered hints about her past.(She also pretty much wears the same clothing all the time.) While seeking to live her own life, she also happens to find herself in more than her share of degrading work situations, with money not of interest at first in her new job.

• Luke C

  
  Before watching this film you need to know that this is not a Disney movie nor does it have any similarities, no this is one slow burning drama about a sexually confused college girl who becomes a prostitute who when asleep via a sleeping pill her client has their way with her. This… More
  Before watching this film you need to know that this is not a Disney movie nor does it have any similarities, no this is one slow burning drama about a sexually confused college girl who becomes a prostitute who when asleep via a sleeping pill her client has their way with her. This is not a happy film. This film is so bad mainly because it is very dull and very slow burning; it feels like a character driven piece but fails as the character it follows is bland and has no spark of interest about her. There are some shameless nudity scenes throughout and even the end doesn't amount to anything interesting or special. After watching this I was very surprised that I was interested in seeing it in the first place.

• Eduardo T

  
  This is not Disney's version. A very complex and jaw dropping indie,foreign,art house, and drama film. Those are all the best genres so this should have been better. Although it lacks character development and dept it's still a pretty decent film. It's rather dull but… More
  This is not Disney's version. A very complex and jaw dropping indie,foreign,art house, and drama film. Those are all the best genres so this should have been better. Although it lacks character development and dept it's still a pretty decent film. It's rather dull but that's one reason why it's so good. It's mysterious and able to conjure up many conversations. This does have many metaphors towards the original fairy tales. Like the waking up kiss and berries. There are so many theories online that it's hard to know which one is true. But all I have to say is that it's pure genius. I am aware that this is a debut so it doesn't have to be perfect. Who ever made this is going to be a big name one day. This was also a bit disturbing. One reason being that Emily Browning looks like a thirteenth year old. The things that made the film disturbing include the sex scenes, the fact that there is no music, and the dullness. Parts that where good include the plot and acting. Parts that needed work include the directing and writing. The writing could have been more complex so it would add more interest. The directing towards the camera men needed work. There was a lack of camera shots. There wasn't much variation as you may say. To end this review I just have to say that there is no prince charming at the end.

• Daniel P

  
  Fascinating, disturbing feature with a strong performance from Emily Browning and a fantastic visual creativity. There's a little *too* much ambiguity and the ending disappointed, but there is much that is interesting and striking.

• Christopher H

  
  Emily Browning is an actress I could watch in just about anything. Though Sleeping Beauty lies rather stagnant, with little range in emotion, Browning's beauty and performance is worth the film alone, watching her succumb to such low standards, remaining gorgeous throughout, but… More
  Emily Browning is an actress I could watch in just about anything. Though Sleeping Beauty lies rather stagnant, with little range in emotion, Browning's beauty and performance is worth the film alone, watching her succumb to such low standards, remaining gorgeous throughout, but never accepting her beauty. She refuses to accept that her body is a "temple" and simply "whores" herself out to all her jobs. Julia Leigh takes many calculated risks in her directorial debut and for the most part succeeds, coming off with the same eerie tone as Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. As one critic describes the film, "it's ultimately a horror story, though one completely free of blood and gore", which is true, as you sit in mostly silence, in awe of the what horror Browning's character will submit herself to next.

• Hassan V

  
  This film film was just plain dull. The performances, narrative and dialogue all flat which made all the sex scenes feel like an exploitation film without the kick but instead with a thick, glossy wood varnish still drying

• Doctor S

  
  Colossally boring, I eventually chose to not waste my time trying to get through to the end for absolutely nothing in return. Adhering to the title, every actor appears to have taken a handful of Ambien before the cameras rolled. Filled with agonizingly long takes and interminable… More
  Colossally boring, I eventually chose to not waste my time trying to get through to the end for absolutely nothing in return. Adhering to the title, every actor appears to have taken a handful of Ambien before the cameras rolled. Filled with agonizingly long takes and interminable monologues, which are actually preferable to the perverted scenes of old wrinkly men caressing and licking the bare-assed Emily Browning. She's probably got some disturbing father figure/grandaddy issues by agreeing to take this part. Surely one of the worst mistakes I will see this year.

• Brian R

  
  This film is not for the faint of heart. Julia Leigh's "Sleeping Beauty" is about a young, quiet, promiscuous girl named Lucy (Emily Browning) working as an exotic waitress, later on a sleeping beauty. In the daytime Lucy is going to school and working menial jobs,… More
  This film is not for the faint of heart. Julia Leigh's "Sleeping Beauty" is about a young, quiet, promiscuous girl named Lucy (Emily Browning) working as an exotic waitress, later on a sleeping beauty. In the daytime Lucy is going to school and working menial jobs, while trying to keep up with the rent money. Lucy is quiet, lonely, sexual, and carefree. There isn't really much to her character except that she lives for the thrill. A scene where she tries a round of coke with another female campanion in the washroom, she befriends a guy named Biirdman, sleeps with a co-worker, gets a job as a sleeping beauty(older men take advantage of her while she sleeps). The picture is quiet and tries to be serious but to what purpose? It seems to me Leigh is more interested in the plot rather then focusing on the characters but that's what good erotic dramas is known for. The perversion may put some viewers off but if you really look at it there is no real explicit scenes of sex. Titalize yes but full penetration? No. Browning's character can also be a put off because she's got nothing really going for her except maybe to exploit herself in any possible way. Lucy isn't a bad person but a lonely one, in search of some real reasonable contact. In a way, "Sleeping Beauty" reminds me of another picture by Luis Bunuel "Belle De Jour". It's about a housewife working at a brothel while satisfying her clients, gets turned on by the thrill of the chase. Lucy is the same way as Belle De Jour except, most of the time she's sound asleep unawhere of what her clients is doing to her but she does get a stunning rude awakening. For a mixed review, "Sleeping Beauty" isn't a rotten film, works better viewing it a second or third try.

• Jim W

  
  Is a little like After Life that starred Christina Ricci, since it makes seeing a beautiful woman naked through-out, some how boring.

• Marcus W

  
  There's a dreamy passiveness to this film that doesn't help when it's SO ambiguous. It's not a bad film, and it never drags. There are meanings but they're buried deep and subtly touched upon. It's one of those films that you really have to see for… More
  There's a dreamy passiveness to this film that doesn't help when it's SO ambiguous. It's not a bad film, and it never drags. There are meanings but they're buried deep and subtly touched upon. It's one of those films that you really have to see for yourself.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings