10 Underrated Movies (That Were Just Misunderstood)

10. Sleeping Beauty

In Sleeping Beauty, struggling to finance her studies, Lucy answers an ad for a lingerie waitress. Sedated and submissive to the sensual whims of her conscious clients, the experience slowly begins to disturb her daily life, and it isn't long before she is desperate to find out what happens while she is asleep.

There is a dark creepiness that slips through the cracks of every scene, and not only the ones where she is asleep under the covers. Sleeping Beauty has a constant habit of making the viewer feel uncomfortable with scenes that include naked men fondling the unconscious Lucy, medical trials that are gag-worthy, and constant themes of death.

With all this considered, it comes off as a cold, clinical film, but there is a warmth that comes from one of the few relationships and that is between Lucy and Birdmann. The scenes they share together are the only few in which Lucy displays genuine happiness. Their relationship is tender and vulnerable, with a bittersweet edge that heavily looms over them.

Reviews have branded Sleeping Beauty as queasy, and devoid of emotion. On the contrary, this film is full of emotions, it's just devoid of positive ones. The intention is to toss you from your comfort zone and show you something darker, and this is what Sleeping Beauty does incredibly well. To call the film queasy isn't a criticism, in fact it's more of a compliment to how disturbing it really is, and how well it portrays those unsettling feelings towards the viewer.

Overall, it's a fascinating film that deserves not only to be watched, but felt too.