Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister is a film filled with gorgeous fury—a despairing and rather heartbreaking body horror fairytale. Lea Myren’s tortured performance is an absolute highlight in this fantastically disturbing film.
Elvira (Lea Myren) is pushed by her forward and plotting mother Rebekka to attend the ball in which the Prince will find his Princess. In a realm where beauty reigns supreme, Rebekka takes drastic action to ensure her daughter comes out on top to be physical perfection.
Body horror and fairytales have always been a match made in heaven if they are not beautifully Disneyfied. One such tale is the Brothers Grimm iteration of Cinderella, in which violence is very much the order of the day. Emilie Blichfeldt has taken the Brothers Grimm approach and very much taken it on an extreme and nasty road that will be difficult for some to stomach. Yet, for all of the brutal and graphically ghastly scenes of Elvira having to make herself “pretty”, there is nuance present about the social gender norms that are expected of people.
In The Ugly Stepsister, we have poor, poor, poor Elvira, played magnificantly by Lea Myren, who wants that dream, that many people her age would. To be a Princess and to be swept off her feet by the tall and handsome Prince. However, she wears braces(normal for a teen), her nose is slightly too big (note, it’s fine), and she isn’t that stereotypical model skinny (who has time for that). She is just a typical teen, but as her mother clearly notes in her head. “typical” isn’t going to get a Prince. So, the surgeries and procedures start.
What Myren does here as Elvira is nothing short of sensational. To give herself the look of an unassuming girl, she completely changes her posture, something you only notice when she is seen in a side profile. She has pushed her neck forward to make herself look like her movements are subtle as she wanders around nervously, simply trying to live a normal life. But, as The Ugly Stepsister goes on, that body language and her movements change; there is a constant pain, an agony in her physical movements. However, the most pain we see with Elvira is in her eyes.
We start with a girl who reads poetry from a Prince, sees his castle from a window, and dreams. Then, as her confidence is pummelled physically and mentally to the ground by those around her, we see a mixture of her dying inside. Somehow, though, that silly little naive dream still lives on inside her, occasionally flashing its way out. As it does, our hearts sink for her as that insecurity rises within. Myren does all this with such confidence that even when desperation and hate have filled her, you feel desperately for her. So wrapped up in what society is telling her to look like, she has lost herself, and as her stomach loudly churns, she knows she can’t escape.
Even when it comes to the true villain of the piece is, Elvira’s mother, Rebekka, who we feel nothing but sincere hatred for, for 99% of the runtime. At the end of the film, there is a slight moment where we realise something. She herself has gotten stuck in a situation she, too, cannot escape from. Rebekka has made it her goal to succeed in life and seemingly doesn’t know how to stop. Is it enough for us to forgive her? Of course not, but it is an interesting little note that Blichfeldt has added to her film.
For those who are not fond of a bit of extreme body horror, you may as well look elsewhere for a way to spend their 100 minutes, as although it’s very sparing throughout The Ugly Stepsister when it gets graphic, it gets gnarly. From chisels to the nose to what can only be described as a modern iteration of that scene in Un Chein Andalou. Yet the final act is what brings even the calmest of stomaches to a tipping point in seeing the utter madness of THAT tapeworm and the efforts that go into making sure your feet fit into a certain shoe.
It’s horrifying, yet the mental and emotional trauma that we witness Elviria go through is all the more traumatic. We see a young, happy girl fade away before us, and it truly pains you as her mother, those in the finishing school and the Prince and his friends wreck whatever confidence she had in herself. Yes, the horror amplifies the agony and makes it real, but the film does just as good a job when not leaning on the graphic.
Blichfeldt has interpreted the classical Cinderella story to highlight a world where women are so forcibly reliant on men that it turns them into something they never wanted to be. With Elviria, she learns that the body she was fine with, one in which she was happy, has “betrayed her”. So, the spark and love dissipate with Rebekka; she lives in a world where she thinks a woman cannot stand up and live for herself and that she needs a man to succeed and thrive financially. Even Agnes becomes conflicted by it all. However, she is being abused; she is seeing first-hand the change in Elviria and is pained by it. Only Alma, who stays on the periphery for the most part, is left with any semblance of sanity, and her costume change evolution as the months go on is notable.
The Ugly Stepsister is a visually stunning watch. From top to bottom, the production team and cinematography are on a supremely high level. This is a retelling of the classic story that deserves to be seen, even if a couple of moments slip through your fingers.
★★★★
The Ugly Stepsister will be available to own in the UK on Digital Download from 9th May and can be ordered HERE. Alternatively, you can watch The Ugly Stepsister on Shudder.
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