The Ugly Stepsister, 2025.
Directed by Emilie Blichfeldt.
Starring Lea Myren, Ane Dahl Torp, Ralph Carlsson, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Flo Fagerli, and Isac Calmroth.
SYNOPSIS:
In a fairy tale world, Elvira must make herself beautiful in order to win over the handsome prince when he decides he wants a bride, whatever the cost.
In a cinematic climate that has seen horror takes on Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Red Riding Hood – not to mention leprechaun’s, troll’s and even Winnie the Pooh (alright, forget that one) – it was only a matter of time before Cinderella got similar treatment, and this being the 2020s there was plenty of scope to fill it full of social commentary, messages about gender roles, body confidence, etc., as well as providing some gratuitous gore which, thankfully, Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt has done.
We all know the story of Cinderella – or at least, the Disney-fied child-friendly version – where the downtrodden titular character is chosen by Prince Charming to be his true love after he finds a glass slipper that fits only her and not her grotesque siblings – so when the movie starts we already have some idea of where it is going to go. However, Emilie Blichfeldt has taken a few liberties with some of the details, keeping the basic skeleton of the story but switching a few things round.
The movie opens with the braces-wearing frump Elvira (Lea Myren), her equally unkempt sister Alma (Flo Fagerli) and their mother Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) arriving at the castle of Rebekka’s betrothed, Otto (Ralph Carlsson), and his beautiful daughter Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss), where they are to live as one big family. However, once Rebekka and Otto are married he suffers a fatal heart attack, but that is when Rebekka discovers Otto has no money and Agnes discovers Rebekka has no money, meaning that somebody has to marry Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth) – who is having a ball to decide which local virgin he is to wed – to obtain his wealth. With Agnes battling against her step family, Rebekka decides it is up to Elvira to woo the prince, but first she is going to need some work.
So, The Ugly Stepsister mashes up fairy tale folklore, body horror and black comedy, telling the Cinderella story from the perspective of what we perceive to be the ugly stepsister of the title, but ugly is a broad word and in this movie there are lots of ugly people, with that ugliness not always showing on the outside. Rebekka, for instance, is a devious gold digger who uses people to get what she wants, whereas Agnes claims she is in love with the castle stablehand, but also intends to marry the prince for his wealth. Prince Julian himself is seen to be ‘one of the lads’ and obnoxiously using his position to get anything he wants, far removed from the gallant hero of the traditional versions of the story.
Elvira, for her part, is made out to be ugly on the outside, her metal braces, big nose and shapely figure marking her out as not very desirable, but she is made out to be a good person, taking the bullying from others on the chin and just wanting to live happily ever after with Prince Julian, even before he announces his intentions and before her mother reveals her motives. From then on, most of the movie is spent with Elvira as she undergoes a physical transformation by having her nose altered using primitive surgical techniques, eating a threadworm egg so she can lose weight quickly and learning to dance to impress the nobility, and Lea Myren gives a fantastically committed performance as Elvira’s looks and personality change places, as once she is ‘beautiful’ and has the full attention of all the men in the palace, the real ugliness comes out.
What comes with all of these interpretations of what is considered beautiful and how women should behave are a lot observations about class, society and the establishment, particularly once Elvira makes it to the palace, which is not the enchanted palace of Disney’s Magic Kingdom but one of corruption, a place of hypocrisy and cold, emotionless greed. Emilie Blichfeldt frames this dark satire with a pumping techno score, totally at odds with the fantasy setting of centuries ago, but it works, creating an off-kilter world that is not totally different to the one we inhabit today.
But it isn’t all fairy tale soppiness in The Ugly Stepsister, as the body horror angle provides the best moments. Obviously drawing inspiration from The Substance – in both tone and plot details – the movie is not a bloodbath but when Elvira goes through her procedures, one cannot help but be repulsed. Yes, there is some bodily fluid fun with the tapeworm and all that comes (out) with it in a moment of Fulci-eqsque gruesomeness, but it is the small tap of a hammer on a delicately-placed chisel that provides the most toe-curling moment, and if the first one didn’t quite… ahem… hit the spot then the following few make the case for subtle sound effects being sometimes better than all-out gore. Then again, there are some eyeball shots here that would make Lucio Fulci (him again) squirm, so it is a potent mixture of the graphic and the implied, along with the gorgeous sets and costumes, that make The Ugly Stepsister a visual feast on all levels.
Coming in at just under the 110-minute mark, The Ugly Stepsister does start to run out of steam before the climactic (literal) toe-curler as it does get a bit repetitive with its depictions of Elvira trying to conform to society’s demands of beauty and grace, creating a lag going into the final act that it doesn’t quite shake, despite where the movie goes for its final scene of shock. Nevertheless, for a debut feature film Emilie Blichfeldt has created a daring piece of work that draws upon obvious influences but manages to create its own unique style within the given framework, and with boutique specialists Second Sight choosing to give the movie a fantastic limited edition box set release – complete with the usual bundle of audio commentaries, interviews and exclusive packaging – it looks like The Ugly Stepsister is destined to become a notable title within the genre that marks Emilie Blichfeldt out as a filmmaker to keep an eye on.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
