Watch Emily Browning as Sleeping Prostitute in Haunting Trailer for Sleeping Beauty

Of the 19 competition films at the 64th annual Cannes Film Festival, at least one has a passing relation to Sucker Punch. That would be Sleeping Beauty, featuring Punch star Emily Browning as a young prostitute whose specialty is taking a bunch of sleeping pills and allowing johns to have their way with her. Thank goodness Zack Snyder didn't think of that plot twist.

Presented by Jane Campion -- though hopefully not in the same way that Quentin Tarantino presented Hostel -- Sleeping Beauty stars the lithe Browning as Lucy, a "death-haunted and quietly reckless" student who submits to the Sleeping Beauty treatment as a way to get away from... something. The trailer doesn't really make it clear, other than to express that Lucy is probably in way over her head. Of course, what starts as a perverse sexual fantasy apparently evolves into something more -- per the film description, Lucy "develops an increasing need to know what happens to her when she is asleep."

As directed by famed author Julia Leigh, Sleeping Beauty looks like something an alternate universe version of Sofia Coppola could have made. Which is great. That Browning is playing a young woman who loses herself without the aide of fantasized burlesque dancing and killer zombie robots isn't shabby either.

VERDICT: Not a pick-me-up, but sold.

Sleeping Beauty from Pollen Digital on Vimeo.



Comments

  • anne says:

    This looks dull and pretentious.

  • Steve Landon says:

    You look dull and pretentious.

  • Liana says:

    I agree Annie. This looks disturbing, why would anyone want to sit through a movie that has men acting out their sick fantasies. I know the story is told through the eyes of this young girl, but still holds no interest.

  • Jen Yamato says:

    I totally want to see this. Looks gorgeous. One-way ticket for Pretentioustown, please!

  • more dolls says:

    isn't this exactly like The Dollhouse? To work off debt, young people agree to live out the fantasies of Johns with their memory erased of the events? Well Browning did already play "baby doll"

  • 2+2=4 says:

    for some reason any movie that has a little bit of value in it, something artistic, something above common vulgarity, cynical humor and extravagant violence that populate mainstream movies these days, doomed to be "pretentious" right away. and the same people yell "superficial" on everyday pop products as well. I don't think they actually care, they just need to oppose and criticize everything.

  • CineKink says:

    Looks stunning... can't wait to see it!

  • PopcornBytes says:

    Doesn't it seem weird that the quote praising the movie is from the woman producing it? Seems kinda biased to me... Other than that, it does look stunning--I agree with Cinekink.