The Ugly Stepsister (2025)
Cinderella Body Horror!
The Ugly Stepsister is part of a recent trend of turning innocuous public domain properties into horror flicks. We’ve seen it with Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Steamboat Willie, and many more. Most of these movies are campy, low budget efforts.
This one is a different story. If you’re looking for a campy take on Cinderella, you won’t find it here. But if you’re looking for a gruesome body horror film that feels like a medieval version of The Substance, The Ugly Stepsister has you covered!
Elvira (Lea Myren) is the black sheep of her family, an unloved and disregarded stepchild who is trapped in the shadow of her beautiful blond sibling, Agnes (Thea Sophie Loch Naess). Elvira initially admires Agnes, but grows to resent her. Why should life come so easily for her sister? She did nothing to deserve the attention of every boy in town.
Julian (Isac Calmroth), a handsome (if rather dull) prince, is ready to choose a bride. Every young woman in the kingdom wants to be with him, and Agnes is considered a prime candidate.
Elvira wants a shot. She’ll do anything, and I mean anything, to win his affection. Encouraged by her mother, Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) , Elvira goes through grotesque torture in an effort to give herself a perfect body.
She transforms into a stunning beauty and waltzes into the lavish ball where the prince will choose his bride. Elvira is an object of desire for many of the men in attendance, including Julian. Just when she’s about to achieve her dreams, Agnes unexpectedly appears. If you’ve read/seen Cinderella, you know how this is going to end. Poor girl!
Myren gives an effective, emotional performance. My initial impression was that she’s too pretty for the role. Why would director Emilie Blichfeldt choose a professional model to play the “ugly stepsister”? The point, I think, is that Elvira is considered ugly because of her perceived low societal value.
One missed opportunity here – it would have been bitterly ironic if the movie had made Cinderella plain looking. Nope. Thea Naess is a total stunner, and very believable in the role, even if she’s not the pure hearted, goody two shoes Disney version of the character.
I don’t normally spend this much time discussing actress’s looks. In this movie, their beauty (or perceived lack thereof) is the focus of the story, so it’s relevant in this case. Anyway, moving on.
Some of the Most Grotesque Body Horror Ever
The Ugly Stepsister holds nothing back. Some scenes are difficult to watch, especially the already infamous eye modification scene. Trust me, if you have a phobia about objects being inserted into eyeballs, don’t watch this movie.
Like The Substance, The Ugly Stepsister is an extremely unsubtle film. Both movies don’t need to go as far as they do to get their point across. They’re both good, but each is overly reliant on shock value. That said, I enjoyed Stepsister more than Substance. The plot is more interesting and the pacing is better.
Blichfeldt has cited David Cronenberg and Dario Argento as major influencers on her work. The Cronenberg influence is obvious here. Less so for Argento. This doesn’t look or feel like a giallo.
However, there is plenty of bright cinematography. The juxtaposition between the pretty pictures and grotesque content is certainly giallo-like. I would enjoy seeing Blichfeldt try her hand at making a true giallo sometime.
It’s worth noting that this is a Norwegian movie. As you might expect, that means that all the dialogue is in Norwegian. I don’t mind reading subtitles at all, but I know there are some subtitle-phobic folks out there, so be forewarned.
Rating
The Ugly Stepsister is a bit heavy handed, but it’s a well-executed and beautifully filmed exercise in body horror terror.
Rating from 1 (avoid at all costs) to 10 (masterpiece): 7.5
