The Ugly Stepsister 4K 2025

Elvira moves with her mother and sister to the castle of her decrepit stepfather. She dreams of a handsome prince, but she cannot compare to the beauty of her stepsister... Soon, a ball will be held in the kingdom—and this is Elvira's chance to make her dreams come true...

Remember the fairy tale about Cinderella? What new can be found in it? What if we look at the old story from the point of view of her stepsister—ugly, unhappy, with a foot that doesn't fit into her rival's slipper...

Deconstructing old fairy tales (as well as Disney classics that have become public domain) is already a familiar thing. In Maleficent, for example, viewers were invited to sympathize with the evil stepmother who cast a spell on Sleeping Beauty. In the recent Maleficent, we took the side of the wicked witch from the Land of Oz. Now it's time for Cinderella to try on—no, not a new shoe, but a new perspective—along with a modern “agenda.”

The story of The Ugly Stepsister could have been told in the format of a scary fairy tale, a children's cartoon, or a realistic drama. The authors of the Norwegian film chose the path of body horror, fueled by disgust. Are you ready to look at rotting fruit and bodies, disfigured faces and severed fingers, parasites in the animal and human world? Welcome to this nightmarish spectacle.

The Ugly Stepsister is often compared to Substance, but this comparison is only partially accurate. Yes, both films share the theme of the fetishization of beauty and the sacrifices that the heroines make to conform to the ‘ideal’ - moral and physical, while men are portrayed as stupid brutes, endowed by default with power and the right to choose. Both films are sometimes very unpleasant to watch. And if ‘Substance’ captivated with its bold ideas and vivid presentation, then ‘The Ugly Stepsister’ relies on shock through disgust. Cinderella's father dies, and his unburied body slowly decomposes. In order to lose weight, the heroine swallows tapeworms. To correct the shape of her nose, she goes under the knife (or rather, under the chisel) of a butcher-surgeon.

If you've read this far, you might be able to watch this movie to the end. However, about halfway through the film, the authors seem to run out of imagination, and we are left watching the same “disgusting” attraction over and over again — 90% of which consists of guttural sounds from Elvira's stomach. At the same time, the most interesting thing - how Cinderella's carriage turned into a pumpkin in the formal realism of the film - remains off-screen. But there will be a lot of things in the frame that you really don't want to look at...

And after the film, you are left with anger - either at the cunning Cinderella, or at the prince - an empty space for which the heroines strive, or at Elvira herself, ready to cut off a part of herself to become someone she is not. Not the most positive emotion after watching. But what a dish, what an aftertaste. On the other hand, the old fairy tale about Cinderella will never be the same for you again.