THE UGLY STEPSISTER - Mark Reviews Movies

The Ugly Stepsister, IFC Films

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Review by Mark Dujsik | April 17, 2025

For those who only know the more pleasant and kid-friendly variations of the story, the Grimm Brothers' version of the tale of Cinderella is pretty, well, grim. Even with that in mind, The Ugly Stepsister is quite a dark and unforgiving adaptation of the classic fairy tale, partly because it swaps the perspective from the usual protagonist to one of its assumed villains. It's mostly, though, because writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt, in turning the entire story on its head, has transformed it into a grotesque fable about the ugly physical and psychological realities of trying to live up to the impossible standards a society can place on women.

The main character in Blichfeldt's interpretation is Elvira (Lea Myren), one of, as the title informs us, the "ugly" stepsisters of the traditional tale. There is nothing "ugly" about this character from the start, because Elvira is just an ordinary 18-year-old in some olden period of Norwegian history.

There's a wide-eyed innocence when she arrives at the grand manor of the fiancé of her mother Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp), because she can't believe and is quite humbled by her good fortune. Before that, she daydreams of being part of a fairy tale of her own, involving a kiss from a handsome prince that comes at—in her mind, apparently—the worthwhile cost of him shooting her with an arrow. She's pretty, too, although the braces her mother has forced upon her teeth, as well as Rebekka's way of criticizing her daughter for smiling with the metal in her mouth, has made Elviria unnecessarily self-conscious of her appearance.

Blichfeldt's screenplay keeps the basics of the old story, which would otherwise revolve around Elvira's new stepsister Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss). Agnes is, by Elvira's own estimation, beautiful in a way she could never see herself as being. She's not envious of the young woman, though—at least not initially. Elvira is just happy to have another sister, in addition to the kind Alma (Flo Fagerli), whose personality seems to match her physical appearance.

Agnes' father dies, leaving her in the care of Rebekka, whose cruelty is immediately amplified when she learns that her scheme to marry a well-to-do farmer was in vain (She basically punishes the man in death by leaving his body to rot). Like herself, the new and quickly departed husband didn't have any money, so her only hope is to find Elvira a wealthy husband. As in the original story, the prince of the land invites all the "noble virgins" of the region to a ball, so that he may select a bride. Elvira desperately wants to marry Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth), too, but it has nothing to do with his title or wealth.

From this point, Blichfeldt, making her feature debut, turns the story into a horror show. From Rebekka's perspective, Elvira simply isn't attractive enough to please the eyes and win the heart of a prince or any of the other men of means who will be at the ball, so the mother starts the process of an extreme makeover for her elder daughter.

The film is set past the Middle Ages, but there is something decidedly medieval about the doctor (played by Adam Lundgren) Rebekka calls in to remove Elvira's braces. He also performs other cosmetic surgeries, including rhinoplasty, which Elvira is unaware is about to happen until the doctor places a chisel above the bridge of her nose, and the installation of false eyelashes, which are sewn into place in grisly, close-up detail. Blichfeldt keeps this story almost fully grounded in reality (Those procedures and the absence of any anesthetic are, frighteningly, historically accurate), without the whimsical fantasy of a fairy godmother or helpful animals (All of that happens to Agnes, mostly off-screen).

It's unsettling enough, but Blichfeldt goes beyond physical pain and surgical disfigurement to look deeper into the psychological effects of this way thinking on the protagonist. Elvira herself starts taking more drastic actions to "improve" her looks, make her mother happy, and fit the standards that she imagines and later, after a brief encounter with the superficial prince and his friends in the woods, knows to be expected of her. Until the climax, the most prominent move of all involves a tapeworm egg, which she swallows and which also results in a long period of stomach-turning tension—since we know that thing is eventually going to have to get out of her body.

All of this is, obviously, quite disgusting, and as a result, the film is often difficult to watch. That's less, however, because of these disturbing visuals and more on account of how understandable Elvira's plight is and how sympathetic one of the supposed "villains" of this traditional fairy tale becomes. The psychological angle of the character, who puts herself through so much to be someone she isn't to everyone else, is the most distressing element of the film. It's more, in other words, than a series of shocking images or some empty subversion of a classic story.

Indeed, it's successful enough to make us reconsider the "ugly stepsisters" of any version of Cinderella's story as being victims as much as the usual protagonist. On its own, The Ugly Stepsister is a clever re-imagining of a fairy tale that stays true to the source material's oft-forgotten grisliness. However, there's a potent purpose to the film's various grotesqueries, which include keeping the Grimm's original bit with the shoe intact, and that points at something uglier than anything we witness on screen.

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