Cannes 2011: SLEEPING BEAUTY Will Be Coming to UK

Premiering in the Cannes competition over the weekend to mixed critical reception, the sexual dynamics of Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty nonetheless earned the film US distribution via Sundance Selects last Sunday, and now Revolver Entertainment will bring it to the UK, after deciding that it will "create huge dinner debate across Britain."

Those words are from Revolver's Dave Bishop, head of acquisitions, as reported by Screen Daily, and, as a North American, I'm frankly jealous to think that families in Britain will be seeing a movie that features young Emily Browning drifting into a weird kind of prostitution, where she lies naked and unconscious while old naked men do perverted things to her body, and then adjoining to their homes to debate the film's merits over dinner.

If nothing else, the film should ignite further debate about the true meaning of feminism, especially with Ms. Browning's earlier appearance in Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch still a fresh memory.

While even the most positive reactions to Sleeping Beauty appeared to be somewhat guarded, the general feeling seems to be that novelist turned filmmaker Julia Leigh has a potentially bright future behind the camera. That in itself should earn it interest; add in the evident abundance of nudity, and the curiosity factor should be through the roof when it debuts in the US and UK, perhaps later this year.