The Ugly Stepsister (2025) Review
The Ugly Stepsister (2025) Review
Classic fairy tales are known to be far more sinister than their more well-known animated interpretations, and writer-director Emilie Blichfeldt’s THE UGLY STEPSISTER certainly promises to swing the pendulum back towards the grisly. A homage to Charles Perrault’s CINDERELLA, THE UGLY STEPSISTER is a dark and gruesome adaptation of the classic story where you truly find out exactly how much pain beauty is.
Elvira (Lea Myren) has one all-consuming obsession: to win the affection of her kingdom’s handsome prince and live happily ever after. Yet, she lives in the shadow of her beautiful stepsister, Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss), who seems fated for the happy ending she’s always dreamed of. But, in a kingdom where beauty is prized above all things, Elvira will get what she wants, no matter what…
Since its festival run, the press reaction for THE UGLY STEPSISTER has been overwhelmingly positive, with Autostraddle claiming it to be “one of the best horror films of the decade so far”, Inverse describing it as “…THE SUBSTANCE for Disney adults” and Bloody Disgusting calling it “elegant, stylish, and gnarly”. The film is currently sitting at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes*. *Rotten Tomatoes Score correct as of 9th April 2025.
Marketed as ‘BRIDGERTON meets THE SUBSTANCE’ THE UGLY STEPSISTER (original title Den stygge stesøsteren), may suffer from its comparison to the latter. Sure, the reference will have the desired effect and get punters that thrilled to the gory body-horror of the award-laden Demi Moore flick; however, some viewers may end up feeling short-changed as the body-horror aspect here is minimal in comparison.
This is another take on the classic CINDERELLA fairy tale, this time with body modification, plenty of maggots and some inducing stomach gurgling. This assured and accomplished feature film debut sees Emilie Blichfeldt at ease with the medium after many years of working in television, her film taps into the expression of ‘Beauty is Pain.’ Cinematographer Marcel Zyskindis opts for natural lighting in film locations (filmed in Poland) and complements the outstanding production design and costumes.
THE UGLY STEPSISTER will be in US cinemas from 18th April and UK Cinemas from 25th April
