Julia Leigh’s erotic drama Sleeping Beauty opens with a shot of our heroine, Lucy (Emily Browning), having a tube forced down her throat for medical experimentation. Within these first few seconds, it is clear that we are worlds away from Disney.

Struggling student Lucy is taking on this experiment for money, and it soon becomes clear that she will do almost anything for some extra cash. Our heroine thinks she has struck gold when she finds a part time job that pays more than she has ever dreamed of. The job, however, turns into a nightmare, as under the watchful eye of the menacing Clara (Rachael Blake), Lucy finds herself thrown into a dark world of wealth and desire in which she is paid to be drugged into a deep sleep as a series of old and increasingly sinister men have their way with her.

In the world of erotic cinema there is a very fine line between art and sleaze, and in the wrong hands this plot could have been made into an extremely seedy and unpleasant film. Leigh, however, turns this story into an enormously captivating and hauntingly beautiful piece of cinema. For a first-time director, Leigh is extremely accomplished, and she manages to give the film a hypnotic and dreamlike quality, while also creating a relentless tone of foreboding through her very bold and emotionally-cold script. She lulls the audience into a false sense of security with slow, near silent scenes, only to then shock us with a sudden scene of almost unwatchable tension.

Another reason for the film’s success is Browning, who is bewitching as Lucy. There are many scenes in which Browning doesn’t say a word and yet still manages to convey a wealth of emotion solely through her body language and facial expressions. 

The film is quite difficult to watch in places, and there are a few scenes in which the unpleasantness on screen is dragged out for a little too long. Overall, however, Sleeping Beauty is an accomplished film that portrays a powerful picture of the darker side of desire.