Sleeping Beauties (1999) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The film is set in Los Angeles, centering on the Rolling Headstones Funeral Home where the main character works as a makeup artist. This unique setting serves as both a professional environment and a backdrop for the film's exploration of fame, memory, and unconventional romance.

• los angeles
• rolling headstones funeral home
• setting
• location

Rolling Headstones Funeral Home is the primary setting where Heather works as a make-up artist. The venue operates as both a real funeral home and a creative space where photo shoots for celebrity memorials take place, blending grief with artistic expression and celebrity culture.

• funeral home
• rolling headstones
• make-up artist
• setting

The Sleeping Beauty fairy tale serves as a central metaphor for Heather and Cindy's relationship, representing awakening and transformation in love. A mother figure narrates the events as a real-life fairy tale, using princess motifs and waking romance to explore how characters inhabit storybook roles while blurring the boundary between myth and reality.

• sleeping beauty
• fairy tale
• metaphor
• awakening
• transformation

The narrative centers on Heather's love for Cindy, challenging conventional expectations of romance. The film uses warmth and humor to explore acceptance and queer self-discovery, particularly through Heather's growing connection with Clea, which expands the scope of intimate relationships beyond heteronormative norms.

• lgbtq
• queer
• same-sex relationship
• acceptance
• self-discovery

Sno Blo's body becomes a stage for glamour at the funeral home, with makeup, photo shoots, and spectacle melding fame with mortality. The setting contrasts celebrity image with the finality of death, suggesting that memory outlives the physical form while critiquing the culture of show business and the rituals surrounding fame.

• death
• glamour
• fame
• celebrity
• memory
• mortality

Heather is a make-up artist at Rolling Headstones Funeral Home portrayed by Sarah Lassez. She balances her artistic work with a longing for real romantic connection, navigating a complicated love triangle between her relationship with Cindy and her attraction to Clea. Her introspective nature and creative skills drive the emotional core of the story.

• heather
• make-up artist
• protagonist
• love triangle

Sno Blo is a deceased rock musician portrayed by Rose McGowan whose body becomes the focal point of a photo shoot at the funeral home. She embodies fame and tragedy, functioning as a cultural icon who lingers in memory and aesthetic after death, adding a glamorous and haunted dimension to the setting.

• sno blo
• rock musician
• deceased
• fame
• celebrity

Cindy is Heather's girlfriend portrayed by Radha Mitchell who returns to Los Angeles seeking friendship and control over her love life. Her expression of wishing for a 'real prince' tests the strength of her bond with Heather and sparks Heather's self-discovery, broadening the film's exploration of different forms of love.

• cindy
• girlfriend
• prince
• love interest

Clea is the photographer's assistant portrayed by Clea DuVall who flirts with Heather, offering a potential path to a new form of affection. She represents curiosity and openness, challenging Heather to explore feelings beyond traditional expectations and fueling the film's sense of playful, evolving relationships.

• clea
• photographer assistant
• romance
• new love

A mother narrates the events as a real-life fairy tale, complete with princess motifs and waking romance. This metafiction invites a playful, hopeful lens on love and identity within a family context, using storybook elements to frame the unconventional romance and personal transformations occurring throughout the film.

• fairy tale
• narration
• mother
• storytelling
• metafiction