The Ugly Stepsister Review

This squirmy reimagining of Cinderella with graphic sex and folk-tinged body horror will worm its whimsical way under your skin.

In The Ugly Stepsister, quirky Elvira is obsessed with Prince Julian’s ‘beautiful’ poems and is determined to marry him. When a marriage arrangement cattle market ball is announced, she embarks on an odyssey of anaesthetic-free plastic surgery and ingests a tapeworm egg to win his heart.

Guided by her domineering mother, who its she has ‘saggy tits and two useless daughters’, she must fend off the romantic challenge of her stunning stable boy shagging stepsister or face poverty in a world where women are patriarchal playthings. The more Elvira’s physical appearance becomes ruthlessly beautified, the more her mental health becomes dressed in rags. And what of the rumbling cataclysm churning her guts?

Emilie Blichfeldt‘s spiteful fantasy The Ugly Stepsister is an imaginative re-boot in the testicles for the classic crucible of cruelties. A grisly hall of mirrors partitioning Grindhouse and Arthouse, reflecting the distorted perceptions of femininity festering inside insecure men and showcasing the collateral damage harvested by women who accept them.

Comparisons may be drawn with the body horror hit The Substance, but it’s not ageing that drives Elvira to seek unrealistic perfection in her misogynistic kingdom. Instead, it is deep self-loathing and, to an extent, financial survival.

There is no mysterious serum or coexistent second self to worry about here. Elvira’s competition is her sexually promiscuous stepsister, forced into menial labour as the family skivvy. This subversion of the fairytale’s original perspective allows for fresh interpretation and cements the film’s identity.

The two movies do share a reluctance to oversimplify feminism. The male characters may be odious, but the female characters are also deeply flawed. In Elvira’s case, she is mercenary in the extreme, both towards others and herself. The extreme measures she indulges for bodily satisfaction are toxicity personified and paradoxically self-damaging.

Blichfeldt weaves a beguiling tapestry of human suffering, creating a woozy hope-crushing netherworld where freedom depends on matrimonial ownership. The narrative may unfold within a fantasy world, but her realist agenda is crystal clear, not least in the film’s linguistically witty final title card. Women may change aesthetically to fit men’s idea of desirability, but daring to exploit any sexual allure with autonomy is to risk being slut shamed.

Don’t be put off by the recent slew of hamfisted childhood horror ‘adaptations’, which has seen everything from Pooh Bear to Popeye sucked into a shameless shit blender to be defiled. This is a beautifully ugly piece of cinema that shocks and amuses with equal aplomb. It is also an ornate bedtime storybook with vomit-stained pages bound in the carcass of a murdered dream.

★★★★

UK Cinemas from 25th April / Lea Myren, Thea Sophie Loch Næss, Vertigo Releasing

The Ugly Stepsister will be In US Cinemas from 18th April and UK Cinemas from 25th April and available to purchase across digital platforms from 9th May.