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Sleeping Beauty
2011 102 min Australia R 18+
★5.2
Drama, Romance
Director: Julia Leigh
🎭 Based on
«The House of the Sleeping Beauties»
byYasunari Kawabata
Trailers
Description
A haunting erotic fairytale about Lucy, a young University student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of beauty and desire.
Budget:
$10M
US Gross:
$36,578
Worldwide:
$408,680
Starring
Emily Browning
Actor
Rachael Blake
Actor
Ewen Leslie
Actor
Awards
Cannes Film Festival 2011
— Palme d'Or
Key opinion
Julia Leigh's debut is widely polarized, with critics and audiences debating whether its cold, detached style constitutes intentional arthouse minimalism or a hollow, pretentious exercise. While the film's premise of a disengaged protagonist creates an intriguing atmosphere for some, many find the narrative thin, the pacing stagnant, and the reliance on explicit imagery ineffective.
| Acting | Emily Browning's performance is consistently described as physically fitting for the role, though critics remain split on whether her 'vacuous' and 'inert' portrayal demonstrates acting skill or a lack of range. | |
| Direction | The film utilizes a cold, detached visual aesthetic frequently compared to Stanley Kubrick, which some find atmospheric and others find sterile or unexpressive. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay is widely criticized for being incoherent, underdeveloped, and failing to provide a compelling narrative hook, leaving many viewers feeling the story is ultimately pointless. | |
| Pacing | The film's pacing is described as lethargic and overly static, causing many viewers to find the viewing experience tedious and boring. | |
| Theme | The inclusion of explicit, provocative imagery is highly divisive, with some viewing it as a necessary exploration of objectification and others dismissing it as gratuitous, 'porn-adjacent' shock value. |