The Ugly Stepsister
This review was originally published on January 24 , 2025 , as a part of our Sundance Film Festival coverage .
Written and aim by Emilie Blichfeldt , The Ugly Stepsisteris asubversive soundbox horrorthat twists the familiar tale of Cinderella and gives us a psychological beauty - is - pain ride that is as volatile as it is encompass . What I love most about period bit is their power to research social expectations , for women specially , that still shine our present day . The Ugly Stepsisteris gruesome and sees the title character going through a act of painful procedures and action at law to marry the prince . As a woman , I found it a painful yet shrewd geographic expedition of manufacture beauty and its frightful resultant role .
In this warpedtake onCinderella , it ’s stepsister Elvira ( Lea Myren ) who takes middle stage . Elvira has just strike into Agnes ’ ( Thea Sofie Loch Naess ) father ’s home after Elvira ’s mother ( Ane Dahl Torp ) marries him . We know the story from there , but Blichfeldt cleverly add a overplus of unexpected aspect to the story — include tapeworms , a finishing school day , and procedures fashion to give Elvira a fighting opportunity in winning the heart of Prince Julian ( Isaac Calmroth ) , whose poesy Elvira is obsessed with reading and who fantasizes about being swept up in his arms and subsist happily ever after .
The Ugly Stepsister Deftly Explores The Excruciating Horror Of Beauty
The Ugly Stepsisteris not thatkind of sprite narration , though , and its strengths rest in the dissection of beauty as a operation , as position , as a means to attract and continue worthful in the eye of beau monde . Elvira urgently want to splice the prince , so much so that , even when she cope with him in the woods , she ignores his deplorable behaviour to carry onto ideas she has about him . Elvira ’s female parent pushes her to be “ good ” and spends money she does n’t have on “ get ” Elvira ’s nose , removing her brace , and force her to turn a loss weight by much starve her .
On the surface , Twinless is a story about two men who find each other amid life - changing grief , but underneath that is something even wilder .
Elvira is caught in the middle of wanting to prove herself and beat Agnes , the wind up school teacher ’s first alternative for do in front of Prince Julian at his formal , and maintain her grip on rarified fantasy that are a staring contrast to the rigorousness of her world . Elvira ’s descent into the darkness of beauty ideals , cosmetic surgical process , and competition for male tending flex her into a average lady friend , but one who is profoundly sympathetic .
We be intimate how and why she comes to be a spiteful stepsister and Blichfeldt ’s power to peel back the layers of Elvira ’s soul as she run head - first into what she think will lead to a happy ending is efficacious . The Ugly Stepsisterthoroughly explores the effects of the smasher industry on multitude — even all the way back to the 19th one C — and its promises of gaining felicity , acceptance , and condition and bemock them . By showing us the horror Elvira submits to , and even sometimes does to herself , the film reminds us how silly and life-threatening such saint can be .
Scenes of a doctor stitching eyelashes into Elvira ’s eyelids or even chopping off her toes to check into Agnes ’ shoe — mirroring the iniquity of the Grimm Brothers narration that is so often left out of the story — are genuinely earthy and excruciating to find out .
The Norse film may be set within a familiar story but even I felt like I was holding my hint throughout , waiting for what would happen next to Elvira and the consequence of the utmost actions that drive her to perform the ideals , and honestly the masochism , of beauty . To that conclusion , The Ugly Stepsisterfinds its horrors in the grotesque . Scenes of a doctor sewing eyelashes into Elvira ’s eyelids or even chop off her toes to fit into Agnes ’ brake shoe — mirror the dark of the Grimm Brothers tale that is so often leave out of the story — are truly glaring and excruciating to catch .
The Ugly Stepsister offers a comedic horror twist on the classic fairy tale, centering on Cinderella’s stepsister, Elvira. Set in a kingdom obsessed with beauty, Elvira competes with her glamorous sibling, resorting to drastic measures to win the prince’s affection.
While I ’ve certainly seen spoilt onscreen , the film is quite macabre and disturbing in its depiction of body revulsion . It ’s no wondersomeone throw up during the film ’s Sundance premiere . Perhaps it ’s because some of these enhancive doings are still exhibited today , though it ’s manifestly to a less horrific and atrocious extent , that the horror becomes all the more scarey to see . I empathize with Elvira but also grew to be bedevil with her actions . She ’s a victim of such unrealistic societal ideals but does her best to assemble them disregardless . It ’s a enchanting juxtaposition we have arguably all participated in .
Lea Myren Is Perfect As Elvira
She’s A Sympathetic Character & A Frustrating One
As the titular theatrical role , Myren delivers an extraordinary performance . At the start of the film , we see Elvira ’s innocence . She ’s just glad to be in a new nursing home with a new half-sister . She ’s jubilantly taken with the prince from afar . As the film proceed and she ’s often ram to partake in behavior that promise to enhance and elate her , Elvira sheds that whiteness and begins to possess an inner vileness she was told to pour forth aesthetically . Myren play all of these conflicting feeling to the cutting edge , masterfully bringing us into Elvira ’s superimposed populace .
The supporting cast is equally first-class , and the picture is also elevated by an outstanding yield design , costumes , and cinematography that reflects the drab , annihilating situation Elvira finds herself in . All told , Blichfeldt pulls out all the stops for this motion-picture show , giving us a cinematic experience that is advanced with depth and concise comment , all wrapped in a grisly fairy tale reality that is as immersive as it is acute .
The Ugly Stepsisterpremiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and is now playing in theater .
The Ugly Stepsister offers a comedic revulsion twist on the authoritative faery narrative , centre on Cinderella ’s stepsister , Elvira . Set in a kingdom haunt with lulu , Elvira competes with her glamourous sibling , repair to drastic measures to get ahead the prince ’s affection .
