Director Emilie Blichfeldt’s debut feature casts the spotlight on Cinderella’s stepsister in showing what depths someone will go through for love, acceptance and finding their dreams no matter the cost in this genre period piece.
Once upon a time is how most fairy tales begin.
From the exposure many first have of them in the lexicon of Disney animated film adaptations, or little golden book versions of the exploits of Disney princesses. But what many might not be aware of is that the same characters that Walt Disney found in the public domain existed in other forms in the works of the Brothers Grimm. Here, fairy tales served as parables with consequences, warning you of the foibles and follies one could encounter if they didn’t follow the path laid out by others. Even worse, some characters were seen as examples of what bad character traits could lead you to be. A very visible example was the story of one of Cinderella’s wicked stepsisters who took a cleaver to her own foot to try and make herself fit the slipper that would guarantee marriage with Cinderella’s beloved as well as love and validation for her own struggles.
It is this grisly image that captivated writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt to explore that character – here named Elvira – in her debut feature, The Ugly Stepsister, opening in theaters on April 18th from IFC Films and hitting the streaming service Shudder on May 9th.
Lea Myren plays Elvira, whose wicked mother Rebekah (Ane Dahl Torp) has married into what she sees as a wealthy home along with her younger sister Alma (Flo Fagerli). Unfortunately, the lord of this home is as broke as Rebekah and she has to take in his daughter Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) into her dwindling household. A household where she can’t even afford to bury her late husband, whose body lays mouldering in their marital bed, spawning maggots and worms as Agnes cries out against the situation she has been left in. But Elvira is left in a similar situation, once where the only escape is marriage to the Prince of this kingdom who has sent servants out to find eligible bachelorettes worthy to take his hand. Elvira imagines a worthy, loving prince who can rescue her and her sister from the unloving dark mother and hateful stepsister she finds herself with. But Rebekah sees Elvira as a way into society and spends every cent she has left to try to turn this ugly stepsister into a beautiful swan. The film becomes a veritable body horror, as Elvira’s nose is broken multiple times to be reshaped and appliances are applies to her teeth to create the beauty standard that her mother feels can woo the prince. But Agnes, the titular Cinderella, has a natural beauty that defies Elvira and Rebekah’s efforts at every turn. While Agnes has supernatural help and preternatural beauty at her disposal; Elvira has well-meaning or paid-off finishing school madams who give her parasite eggs to slim her waist and work her to the bone as her hair falls out to try and compete to see who will be the fairest of the all and win the Prince’s hand.
This is one of the better horror films this year. While it treads on some of the same themes of body acceptance not being worth the horror one should put themselves through that Grafted (2024) and The Substance (2025) have touched on, The Ugly Stepsister is unique in placing us in the shoes of a traditional villain character to show us that body issues are universal and self-love is the key to avoiding the traps and tropes Elvira finds herself in. The film’s final act delivers the story we’re used to seeing with Cinderella but Alma and Elvira find themselves masters of their own destiny; albeit after after a grisly road to get there. In the end, they both defy the roles of being pawns in their mother;s social climbing and find their own story potentially.
Blichfeldt crafts an enthralling and engaging story where we can empathize with Elvira in seeing how difficult the world can be for a girl forced to fit in a mold she doesn’t fit in. The horror she experiences is what we feel viscerally. I look forward to more from her as a writer and director and encourage you to see The Ugly Stepsister in theaters and streaming.
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THE UGLY STEPSISTER (2025)
**** OF 5 Stars
Unique body horror that subcverts expectations in what you would expect from a fairytale
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VIDEO REVIEW