![‘The Ugly Stepsister’ Bargains With Physique Horror for Magnificence [Sundance Review]](https://i3.wp.com/www.dreadcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Ugly-Stepsister-feature.jpg?w=1920&resize=1920,998&ssl=1 "‘The Ugly Stepsister’ Bargains With Physique Horror for Magnificence [Sundance Review]")
Whereas no-budget splatter-house fairytale reboots like Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, Cinderella’s Curse, and Neverland Nightmare proceed to carve out a worthwhile mini-industry of uninspired schlock, it’s all of the extra refreshing to come across an expertly crafted, thoughtfully executed fairytale nightmare-comedy like Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister.
Set in a fantastical alternate 1900s, The Ugly Stepsister shifts the highlight to the acquainted secondary character of Elvira—however at a steep price. Determined to face out at a once-in-a-lifetime ball with Prince Charming, Elvira (Lea Myren) endures a collection of ghastly, historically-inspired surgical beauty procedures and punishing rounds of physique horror to change her look. Blichfeldt is serving a morbidly humorous exploration of unattainable magnificence requirements by a well-known but fashionable fairytale lens.
In the meantime, Elvira’s historically gorgeous and not too long ago orphaned stepsister, Cinderella, follows a extra conventional trajectory. Martyrdom is her destiny below the merciless rule of Elvira’s horrifying mom till an angelic intervention propels her story seemingly towards an iconic fairytale ending. But, somewhat than diminishing Cinderella’s narrative, Blichfeldt makes use of her archetypal position as a foil for Elvira’s more and more absurd struggles. This mirror inversion makes for a captivating distinction: the story we’ve seen numerous occasions taking part in out beside a a lot darker, ingenious one.
Little victories pile up for Cinderella, together with silkworms weaving her iconic powder-blue ballgown. However in stark distinction, demonic tapeworms convey darkish miracles to Elvira. Consuming one in every of these creatures results in Sam Raimi-levels of gut-wrenching mayhem by being each horrifying and unexpectedly humorous. The Evil Useless-style sequence is one in every of many grotesque set items that flip Elvira right into a spectacle of absurd misfortune with a slapstick disrespect just like what Alison Lohman’s character Christine faces in Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell. Elvira endures nasty surgical procedures, monstrous parasites, and nightmarish 1900s-inspired beauty procedures. The mix of bodily horror and biting humor ensures that her struggles are as entertaining as they’re unsettling.
Blichfeldt’s movie is rarely nervous about leaning into its absurdity. The distinction between Elvira’s grotesque journey and Cinderella’s irritatingly stoic rise provides a biting edge to the movie’s feminist commentary. As Elvira turns into consumed by her quest for transformation, the movie balances moments of sharp, uncomfortable humor with some surprising setpieces. The bodily comedy of her misfortunes is cartoonishly intelligent, and the movie’s underlying critique of brutally painful magnificence requirements retains it grounded with consequence and depth.
What makes The Ugly Stepsister stand aside from its much less bold fairytale-horror friends is its capacity to weave this carnage right into a extra appreciable feminist commentary. Like Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance from final 12 months, The Ugly Stepsister makes use of viscerally disturbing gore to critique the unnatural bargains made in pursuit of magnificence. Each movies ask exhausting questions concerning the lengths ladies are pushed to in pursuing acceptance, energy, and societal value. But, the place The Substance might lean into grim seriousness, The Ugly Stepsister normally opts for an much more comedic tone, making its chunk really feel accessible whereas additionally subversive.
I discover it fascinating that The Ugly Stepsister, a viciously imaginative critique of girls’s punishing magnificence requirements, premiered at Sundance simply hours after The Substance obtained 5 Academy Award nominations. Whereas the 2 movies are vastly totally different in tone and method, they share a meticulous method to cinematic craftsmanship, outrageous gore, and ugly feminist commentary. The timing feels nearly poetic.
Including to the movie’s affect are its beautiful manufacturing values. With the lavish interval design, beautiful costumes, and authentically historic European property settings, The Ugly Stepsister doesn’t exist for its punchline however revels in every step of its unusual journey. Blichfeldt and her staff approached this challenge with a love for the craft, making certain that the movie maintains a exact steadiness of humor, horror, and sweetness even because the narrative delves into the grotesque.
This dedication to high quality separates The Ugly Stepsister from the slew of opportunistic fairytale-horror money grabs we’ve been overfed since Winnie the Pooh went feral in 2022. The place these movies present delicate shock worth and campy thrills, The Ugly Stepsister weaponizes its camp with actually ugly watercooler moments sandwiched between bursts of glittering spectacle. Like its non secular predecessor, The Substance, Blichfeldt’s movie proves that horror is artwork.
The Ugly Stepsister had its world premiere on the Sundance Movie Competition on January twenty third, 2025. It is going to be accessible to look at on Shudder later this 12 months.
Abstract
‘The Ugly Stepsister,’ a nightmarish but darkly comedic fairytale reimagining, serves up Sam Raimi-levels of gut-wrenching mayhem alongside a sharply macabre critique of the brutal magnificence requirements imposed on ladies.
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