‘The Ugly Stepsister’ review: What if ‘Wicked’ and ‘The Substance’ had a grubby baby?

Go ahead, Elphaba. A new villain comes to reclaim his narrative, and she’s not pretty—but she’s pretty awesome. With The ugly stepsisterwriter/director Emilie Blichfeldt offers a gnarly new spin on a classic fairy tale, daring to pose the question: What if Cinderella was a bit of a bitch?

Centering on the much-despised oldest of Cinderella’s stepsisters, this twisted tale explores how a patriarchal society pits women against each other amid crushing pressure to be beautiful. If you gag on Coralie Fargeat’s nauseating satire The Substanceyou’ll love Blichfeldt’s spin on “pain is beauty” treatments. And if you love Bad‘s retconning of the origins of a villain, your heart will definitely be out The ugly stepsister.

The ugly stepsister is a tale of bad girls and fuckboys.

Elvira gets her nose in “The Ugly Stepsister.”
Credit: Shudder

It turns out that some modern archetypes really are timeless. Although set in medieval Germany, a time of corseted gowns and royal balls, The ugly stepsister it feels fiercely modern in its depiction of cruel folk children.

New to the kingdom, Elvira (Lea Myren) has a massive crush on Prince Julian (Isaac Calmroth), thanks to her book of swoon-worthy love poetry, which includes illustrations of her dream face. In vivid daydreams, she imagines how he will choose her as his one true love, sweep her off her feet, and lead her to a happily ever after. In these visions, she looks a lot like her new stepsister, Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss), with long blonde hair, flawless skin, and an elegant, pale blue dress that flows to the floor.

Real life is less bright at all for Elvira. The prince is a sullen rich boy with skeevy friends who play horrible sex pranks at the expense of every young lady they come across. But even meeting this prince outside of her dreams cannot crush Elvira’s hopeful ambitions of love, luxury and comfort. Yet, even in her new home, this poor girl finds only contempt. Agnes, always scornful, is sensitive to sharing her things and directly replaces Elvira for her interest. Both are treated atrociously by Elvira’s manipulative mother, who sees the girls as her best means of restoring the family’s wealth through lucrative matchmaking. However, this Cinderella would rather stop her own escape than help her aspiring sister. When they are invited to the prince’s ball, Agnes won’t even share her last name with the court messenger. Thus, Elvira’s invitation will read: Elvira Von Stepsister.

As a doe-eyed first year (or a virgin who can’t lead), Elvira is earnestly seeking guidance and attention from anyone who can offer it. And as is the case in many teen movies, the results of seeking validation through these external sources make for an expensive life lesson.

The ugly stepsister is a brutal and fascinating story of self-discovery.

Elvira wears a nose ring in “The Ugly Stepsister”.
Credit: Shudder

Despite the marketable middle-teen angle, Blichfeldt’s take on the fairy tale isn’t the stuff of Hollywood glamour. The title sequence makes this clear as the rotting food is slowly mixed with the swollen body of Agnes’ father. Things are unraveling in this torn house, as Elvira’s mother (a deliciously ruthless Ane Dahl Torp) is forced to pay the dead man’s debts; with no money for a proper funeral, he is left to decay in the dining room. This is a source of resentment between Agnes and the stepmother who nicknames her “Cinderella”. But while Agnes is scolded and made to clean up the terrible mess around the palace, Elvira is pressed into terrible transformations to make her – in the eyes of her mother and the merciless women of the school – worthy of the attention of a man

As teased in the first images of The Ugly Step SisterThis includes a violent nose job, complete with a ghastly metal body that makes Elvira a constant source of ridicule. But there is much worse to come as she is mutilated by various snake oil salesmen such as Dr. Esthétique (Adam Lundgren), a fashion designer who calls herself a “fairy godmother”, and a smiling mentor who offers her a special gift. leading to what I will call “Pavlov’s tapeworm”. These scenes of physical abuse, sexual impropriety and self-mutilation are all hard to stomach, contrasting intensely with the whimsical dreams of Elvira’s imagination. But as the world around her demands Elvira’s blood, pain, screams and tears, she clings more strongly to her fantasies, believing that the only way for them is through obedience and submission

While his example is shocking, it is also touching. With big, serious eyes and a childlike smile, Myren is heartbreakingly lovable as Elvira, offering a heroine whose naivety would have been much better in a Jane Austen novel. There, she will be ridiculed, mutilated and tortured. Be warned: Blichfeldt won’t stray far from the Cinderella story he knows well. And when she does, she’s on a path of broken bones and dire conclusions. And also, like The Substancethe climax – violent and bloody – is strangely celebratory, finding the freedom to give up those suffocating beauty expectations of a society that just flat-out hates women.

In the end, The Ugly Step Sister is a deranged and dizzying success, which folds in a classic story with modern satire and body horror. Blichfeldt weaves these elements together to make a film that feels both of the moment yet aesthetically nostalgic. With everything from the costumes to the banquet tables to the castles and would-be kings soaked in rot, blood and bile, this horror gem feels like a lost B-movie from the 80s, so willfully disgusting you can practically smell it. The gnarly aesthetic masterfully subverts our dreamy vision of fairytale castles, princes and romantic heroines, warning us – and Elvira – that the emperor has no clothes! The tragedy is that we are quick to this realization while we have to watch her struggle with it. Yet his journey, as rough and tumble as it is, is threaded with a ribbon of euphoria, rebellion and even defiant joy. Simply put, The Ugly Step Sister it is savagely brutal yet strangely beautiful.

The ugly sister was reviewed outside the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.