The Ugly Stepsister

While stories of this nature often carry a myriad of meanings and impacts dictated by audience interpretations, I like to perceive it primarily as a critique of the beauty and fashion industry.

That very industry driven by self-interest, promotes unrealistic beauty standards among impressionable young women, particularly teenagers, and encourages gullible women to purchase costly products to be "attractive" so to speak or, more alarmingly, drive them to resort to unhealthy and dangerous methods for altering their faces and bodily structure.

The narrative also serves as a commentary on those parents who exploit their children's fame and financial success, steering them toward a path of self-destruction in pursuit of their own unattained and selfish interests.

From the earliest retellings of the Cinderella myth-beginning with Charles Perrault's Cendrillon and the Brothers Grimm's Aschenputtel, and later immortalized by Disney's 1950 animated classic this timeless tale has undergone countless adaptations on both the page and the screen. More recent live-action versions, such as Ever After (1998) and Kenneth Branagh's Cinderella (2015), have further cemented the story's place in popular culture. In parallel with these traditional approaches, a new trend has emerged: alternative reinterpretations of classical works. Notable among these is Percival Everett's James, a daring reimagining of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which challenges our expectations and invites fresh perspectives on well-worn narratives. The Ugly Stepsister follows this innovative path, reimagining the Cinderella story from a grotesque and an entirely subversive angle. In this twisted retelling, that recalls the visceral atmosphere of films like Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, rather than presenting a pristine, innocent Cinderella, director Emilie Blichfeldt introduces us to Elvira (Lea Myren), the so called "ugly" stepsister who despite the title is neither conventionally beautiful nor utterly hideous. This ambiguity makes the excruciating process of her transformation, aimed at impressing the ever elusive Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth), feel both ambiguous and absurd. We learn early on that financial desperation haunts her family: her stepfather's colossal debts, covered only temporarily by her mother's illfated financial gambles, have left the family on the brink of ruin, crippled and hungry for change. This bleak economic reality fuels the ruthless ambitions of her mercantile stepmother Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp), whose single-minded drive is to turn Elvira into a paragon of beauty and a ticket to social ascendance.

From the very beginning, the film sets a tone of moral ambiguity. Unlike traditional Cinderella adaptations-where the fairy godmother and the magical pumpkin carriage provide effortless routes to transformation-The Ugly Stepsister opts for a far more disturbing and visceral approach. The film is replete with scenes that verge on full-blown body horror: grotesque surgical procedures and physiologically unsettling imagery underscore the brutal lengths to which Elvira must go in her quest in a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a brutal, cutthroat business, to impress Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth), being led by desperate desire for approval and success, presented in whitewashed dreams, so fake and unnatural, as the electronic accompaniment to them. Her transformation is not an innate gift but an arduous, painful process that calls into question the very nature of beauty and success. We see her diligently practicing her dancing and perfecting her embroidery, suggesting that her newfound allure is hard-won and paid for with her own pain, suffering and deteriorating health. This contrast not only deepens her character but also casts the traditional Cinderella figure in a more problematic light, who is not the dutiful, spotless heroine we've come to expect-she harbors resentment toward her stepmother, haughty, arrogant and contemptuous with Elvira. Her beauty is a mere privilege she was born in, as is her nobility. The film even introduces a slightly provocative side story involving a stable boy, which further muddies the moral waters and challenges our preconceived notions of the Cinderella myth. The final touch to her viciousness is being added by the sole macabric remnant of original story ball dressing magic. Well, it's probably natural for the fairies to have early development stages.

The younger stepsister Alma, portrayed by Flo Fagerli, is a breath of fresh air in this twisted tale. Adorable and unpretentious, she stands out as the only truly grounded character amid the film's chaotic transformations. With genuine empathy for her older sister and a healthy dose of rational skepticism, she offers a much-needed counterbalance to the story's surreal excesses.

The film's visual style is striking, with Marcel Zyskind's cinematography capturing the surreal, almost carnivalesque staging of these transformation sequences. The soundtrack, however, is a notable letdown. While it (intentionally or not) attempts to echo the pioneering spirit of electronic remakes of classical music-a realm in which Wendy Carlos famously set the benchmark decades ago-the repeated theme quickly becomes stale. Instead of adding depth or evolving with the narrative, the overuse of this motif undermines the film's atmosphere, leaving a sense of musical monotony that detracts from the overall experience.

Overall, The Ugly Stepsister is an audacious, if imperfect, cinematic experience. Its intriguing premise and subversive take on a wellworn fairy tale are commendable, even as its execution occasionally falters between highconcept ambition and uneven production quality. Despite these shortcomings the film manages to spark thought and discussion, leaving viewers to wonder whether its flaws stem from a conceptual deficit or simply from the challenging task of realizing such lofty aspirations on screen. Final point down, those who are fainthearted could safely limit themselves to reading the script.

Every single time I see that a celebrity has had her (sometimes his) face change in order to look younger and thinner, I sigh and despair and think WHY? You were beautiful before, there's no need to change.

This film takes that message to its goriest and most disgusting levels I've seen in a long time.

This is a horror retelling of the classic Cinderella story. Only Cinderella is not the main character, but it is told from the perspective of one of her "ugly" stepsisters, Elvira.

Agnes, AKA Cinderella, is a naturally gorgeous and rebellious girl who is destined to catch the eye of the prince. Her stepmother, Rebecca, wants Elvira to catch the prince's attention, since she dislikes Agnes and Elvira's sister Alma, is too young to wed.

In order to make her pretty, her mother Rebekka pays for her to have her braces removed, her eyelashes enlarged and a nose job.

Only... this is unfortunately not set in modern day. And the beauty procedures are shockingly and violently brutal. And Elvira goes one over to add another painful procedure in order to lose weight. And it is FOUL.

I really liked the differences between the three sisters. Alma is young, innocent and frightened at the prospect of womanhood. Agnes is a free spirited young woman who is punished by the rest of her family. While Elvira does everything in her power to appear pretty to please her nasty mother.

While The Substance by Coralie Fargeat deals with the fear of getting old, imperfections within the body and an entertainment industry obsessed with beauty standards, this film leans more into trying to please toxic parents who don't care about the well-being of their children, and only care about their own money and reputation. There are a lot of parallels with mothers nowadays who groom their children into being the people that they wished they could be. Whether through dance, entertainment or singers.

Probably not as wild as The Substance, but definitely more gross and squeamish.

Seen this at the Berlin International Film Festival.

She was about to unleash the film on us, as the noticeably excited director finally exulted, having been brought on stage beforehand by the screenings moderator. The Cinderella tale was very close to her heart, and she almost spoiled the ending (more on that below). But first things first:

At the beginning, we still wonder, due to the emerging, subtly crude exaggeration, where this journey is headed... whether the film will find its tone. Yet another patchwork family coming together, a few centuries before today.

The penniless widow Rebekka moves with her daughters, Alma and Elvira, into the estate of a supposedly wealthy, older suitor, who has a pretty daughter named Agnes. Unfortunately, the hoped-for benefactor soon passes away. When it also turns out that this household has fallen on hard times as well, the newly widowed and aspiring social climber finds herself in a tough spot.

The prince of the county, meanwhile, is idolized by all the maidens for his poetry-and is soon to host a ball where he will choose his bride. A rivalry ignites between the initially haughty Agnes and the unconventionally attractive Elvira, spurred on by mother Rebekka, who puts every hockey mom to shame. After all, the pool of candidates is as large as in today's casting shows.

The audience may soon suspect: The daughter figures and the "evil" stepmother from the original Cinderella story seem here to serve merely as a foundation. For things appear to be taking a different turn, won't they? Who is the good one, who is the bad one-we recall the director's words: "The ugly stepdaughter, that was me." "There is only one Cinderella, we can't all be her."

Here, one feels pleasantly uncertain about how it will all end. It is crafty how Emilie Blichfeldt (both director and writer) blurs boundaries and plays with expectations, even as she does not shy away from clichés but rather embraces them in keeping with the genre.

The parallels to today, which Emilie Blichfeldt hints at, meaning that the whole thing can also be read as an analogy to current and burgeoning social dreams - are not as far-fetched as they may seem. After all, influencers, beauty ideals, body optimization trends, posing coaching, the excesses of cosmetic procedures, and (model) casting shows all promise dreams that rarely come true.

The drastic visual shock effects in "Den Stygge Stesøsteren" do not come across as mere sensationalism; instead, they powerfully illustrate the delusions of the characters: losing weight by ingesting a parasite, a nose job with hammer and chisel, self-mutilation... These scenes provoked intense reactions from the audience: vehement groans, followed by sudden bursts of laughter-even applause for individual scenes. Rare and strange.

And yet, it is simply faithful to the source: fairy tales have always drawn their effect from horrific deeds. The Grimm version of the story, as one can find, is by no means the only one. The Cinderella legend haunted Europe for centuries in countless variations before the Brothers Grimm-and later Ludwig Bechstein-shaped it into the form we remember today.

It is hard to imagine a better or more faithful adaptation of fairy tale motifs for a modern audience than what this film achieves-through adaptation, interpolation, and remixing.

The Ugly Stepsister is A dark, twisted re telling of the Cinderella story..... with A LOT of added gore.

The film tells the story of Elvira, who is essentailly, the Ugly Stepsister of the classic fairytale, the movie ios from her point of view.

The movie opens with Elvira her mum and younger sister moving in with another family (just the dad and the 'pretty daughter')

Some stuff happens, there's financial worries and.... news comes that the Prince will be having a ball and there he will chose his bride... so every young girl in the area sets off on a mission to... be the lucky lady.

So it is the classic fairytale ...to an extent.

Both Elvira and her Stepsister are after the Princes 'love' (in fact the movie opens with Elvira reading the princes published poems, and she has regular daydream fanatasies about being swept of her feet by him)

But the movie is really about the lengths that Elvira (and her mum) will go to, in order to become 'beautiful' and therefore worthy of the Prince

Thats more or less the plot

The early hype around this has been focusing on the gore element... And while it is VERY gorey at times... I think focusing on that does the film a bit of a disservice....

Yes... Its gorey, but it's much more internal and more of a psychological horror....(in a good way)

(Actress) in the lead role is BRILLIANT. You can see the struggles shes goin through internally on her face.... Its s brilliant, genre topping performance.

The supporting cast, specifically the mum, are also top tier.

I'm going to assume it was a low budget... But it didn't look or FEEL low budget.

The period costumes look great, the makeup snd physical effects dont look cheap....

The Cinematography (especially the fantasy sequences) and more specifically the sound design, it doesn't look OR sound lime a cheap movie.

So it seems they've spent their money wisely.

Score has stranger things vibes, interesting juxtaposition to the period drama setting

Then there's almost a spaghetti western vibe to the score... so, when it works, it works really well, but it did feel a little disjointed at times

It's written and directed by a woman, and I think that's partly what gives this such a unique feel at times. There's elements to the movie about the female gaze, that, lets face it, would probably have been handled differently if directed by a man

The pressure, young women in particular are put under to look a certain way...

The methods used in the movie might be more barbaric than today's.... But the underlying societal issue is the same.

The moral, the theme... while at times can feel a little on the nose (pun intended) is still, sadly relevant in today's society.

There's a line in the movie that stuck out to me "you're changing the outside to fit what you know is on the inside... Its what's inside that counts"

In an effort to make herself beautiful on the outside she becomes ugly on the inside.... (then ugly on the outside)

Now, even though I've kinda down played the goriness.... Its definitely an 18 rated movie

But none of the sex, nudity or violence feels gratuitous.... It all serves the story and the characters, it's not gore for the sake of gore (lookin at you Terrifier!)

Oh, and there is a an ed credits scene so stick around for that

7/10 for the ugly step sister.

I was very pleasenlty surprised by this. I went in expecting a fairly mindless gore fest, what i got was a well thought out, well paced psychological body horror (with a fair amount of gore) that Cronenberg fans would be proud of.

Would make a good double bill with THE SUBSTANCE

Thanks to shudder and strike media for giving me an early look at this, it's in select uk cinemas as of April 25th and I believe it's already in US cinemas.

Thats us folks, I'll catch you ijnthe next video

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