Although it strives to be a thought provoking exploration of the flesh and the soul, Sleeping Beauty is to cold and detached to make us care either way.

Fitting, then, that it opens in a science lab, where a medical experiment is underway. The subject is Lucy (Emily Browning), a university student he is short on cash and places herself in vulnerable positions for money.

But money isn’t her lone stimulation. It is a weird world which Lucy inhabits, and it movies with the tide of her  self-destructive personality. There is no family in her life, and her lone friend is a dying alcoholic who goes by the handle of “Birdman” (Ewen Leslie).

Prostitution is another income stream for Lucy, which leads to a new business venture for what can only be described as a very high class escort service. The work they provide is unique, and they pay well.

One is that of a “sleeping beauty”, where Lucy is voluntarily placed in a deep slumber while crusty, old rich men fawn over her (on top of other icky activities).

If this all screams “art house!” than you would be correct. Problem is Sleeping Beauty takes all of the negative aspects of that cinematic term, and nothing else. Self pretention and empty symbology are ripe. Engrossing story and interesting characters are not.

It all comes down to the writing and direction from novelist Julia Leigh. Sleeping Beauty is her first foray into filmmaking of any capacity, so it’s surprising that the weakest element is its story, which is cold and distant, and fails in every capacity to involve its audience in Lucy’s journey.

A pit stop in that journey is an inspection of Lucy’s “womanhood” by uber-madam Claire (Rachel Blake). “The vagina is not a temple” she assures Lucy. It is a line of dialogue that will either make you wince or laugh.

And so it goes, with Sleeping Beauty a series of drawn out scenes, beautifully dressed and shot, yet empty in feeling and texture.

What makes it worse is that Browning throws everything she has into her performance, which is risqué to say the least. Yet like so much of her work of late (Sucker Punch anyone?), it is all wasted by the fumbling hands of her director.

Poor girl can’t catch a break.