Of course we all know the tale of Cinderella, and by now we’re probably familiar with the source material and how dark Grimm’s fairy tales actually are. These stories have been given the horror treatment many times in the past, but this newest telling might be the goriest yet.
The Ugly Stepsister follows the titular character Elvira, an unfortunately “ugly” daydreamer who fantasizes about marrying the prince.
When a royal ball is announced, Elvira and her mother attempt a series of improvements to Elvira’s looks, including a very rudimentary nose job that forces her to wear a sort of metal cast over her nose.
There are some truly terrifying and gross moments in this movie that draw attention to the lengths at which humans have gone to throughout time to make themselves hotter.
Definitely unsubtle in its criticism, there are plenty of shocking moments that will leave you feeling nauseated. In fact, we were told at the beginning of the screening that an audience member did in fact puke during the premiere of this movie, which is the first time I’ve ever heard of that happening at Sundance.
The Ugly Stepsister is described by director Emilie Blichfeldt as “beauty horror.” She cites David Cronenberg as one of her inspirations, and it’s easy to see why. Like many Cronenberg films, the body horror is a result of the characters’ relentless drive and their willingness to go to extreme lengths for what they want.
The description for the film reads: “In a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira battles to compete with her incredibly beautiful stepsister, and she will go to any length to catch the prince’s eye.”
The filmmaker describes the film as “A twisted retelling of Cinderella with gruesome fidelity to the Grimm-est rendition, The Ugly Stepsister shifts the focus to stepsister Elvira’s pursuit of beauty at all costs. But where fairy tale Cinderellas have silkworms, this one has tapeworms.
“For good measure, Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt throws in decomposing corpses, tongue-in-cheek body horror, and a 19th-century surgical makeover, creating a darkly funny, blithely grotesque debut feature.
“It shrewdly satirizes manufactured beauty and its industries, selling body image as the means to attain desirability, success, and social status. We can’t help but empathize with Elvira, who is insecure and drawn into her avaricious mother’s barbaric beautification scheme largely as a means to an end: acceptance and happiness (ever after).
“From nose to toe, the vessel of Elvira’s disturbing transformation is breakout talent Lea Myren, who gives a heroically committed performance.”
If you have a strong stomach, The Ugly Stepsister is definitely worth checking out!
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