Overview
The Ugly Stepsister (Original Title: Den Stygge Stesøsteren) is a 2025 Norwegian satirical black comedy body horror film that offers a dark, gruesome, and modern reinterpretation of the Cinderella fairy tale, drawing heavily from the harsher elements of the Brothers Grimm version. It is the feature-length directorial debut of writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt.
The film serves as a potent social critique, focusing on the brutal pressures of achieving beauty and societal validation in a rigid, patriarchal kingdom.
Genre: Satirical Black Comedy, Body Horror
Director/Writer: Emilie Blichfeldt
Release Dates: Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2025 (Midnight section). Theatrical releases followed in Norway (March 7, 2025) and the US (April 18, 2025, via IFC Films and Shudder).
Runtime: 109 minutes (1 hour 49 minutes)
Language: Norwegian, Polish, Danish, Swedish
Plot Summary (Warning: Contains Body Horror Elements)
The story centers on Elvira (Lea Myren), the titular "ugly stepsister," and her family's desperate attempt to climb the social ladder. Elvira lives with her younger sister, Alma, and her callous, financially motivated mother, Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp). Their lives are complicated by the death of Rebekka's wealthy husband, leaving both families debt-ridden.
The focus shifts when a royal ball is announced, giving Elvira a chance to marry Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth) and secure the family's future. Elvira is pitted against her conventionally beautiful stepsister, Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss)—the Cinderella figure.
In a kingdom where "beauty is a brutal business," Elvira, who is deemed unattractive by societal standards, becomes obsessed with altering her appearance. Driven by her mother's pressure and her own desire for romantic validation, Elvira undergoes increasingly extreme and horrific measures to achieve perfection. These acts of self-harm and crude, primitive cosmetic procedures escalate, including ingesting a tapeworm to lose weight and attempts at painful surgeries.
The film explores the intense psychological and physical toll this pursuit takes on Elvira. As the ball approaches, and after Agnes is temporarily cast into servitude, Elvira is ready to compete. The film culminates with the infamous scene from the original fairy tale, where Elvira attempts to mutilate her foot to fit the glass slipper, symbolizing the ultimate price of physical conformity.
Ultimately, the film is less about winning the prince and more about the toxic lengths women are forced to go to for societal acceptance and how the bond between the sisters, Elvira and Alma, offers a path to genuine liberation from the patriarchal demands of beauty.
0 Comments: