Having had its April theatrical release in the United States and United Kingdom, The Ugly Stepsister is now available to watch at home. Preferably with your feet tucked firmly under you as you sit on the couch, because as you'll see, this film is heavy on the choppity chop. Written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt in her feature length directorial debut, starring; Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, and Ane Dahl Torp as principals and supported by Isac Calmroth as the prince, Katarzyna Herman, Adam Lundgren as the plastic surgeon with questionable practices, and Flo Fagerli as the girl who loves her sister no matter how ugly she perceives herself to be.
From Vertigo Releasing and Shudder comes a fairytale so strange, so sickening, so bloody bizarre that you sit in front of your television frozen in disgust and wonder. But here is the kicker, this film is actually beautiful. From the period clothing, the school for girls, the settings, all of it is just stunning and here sits Elvira in the midst of that beauty, feeling like Baba Yaga's older and uglier sister. For another kicker, Elvira (Myren) is not even ugly, her perception of herself and the comparison her mother makes between Elvira and her stepsister Agnes (Loch Naess) is what is. In fact it's this idea of what is deemed pretty enough to snag a prince that truly brings home how unattractive the machinations of Rebekka (Dahl Torp) are. To put her daughter through horrendously painful procedures for her teeth, her nose, her hair, her...everything...is saddening.
To add insult to injury, pun fully intended, Elvira thinks she's fat so she heads out into the woods in search of this mossy, hairy egg like thing guaranteed to change her figure. it does, and boy is it bad but all of her mother's work, the brutal surgeries, the ingesting of weird and dangerous things, all of it works! Elvira heads to the ball and sure enough, snags the prince's eye. Until that is, a beautiful and mysteriously veiled figure appears and steals the show. I would say it's giving Ever After vibes if it weren't for the fallout that happens after Elvira's speedy exodus from the party.
When Elvira's wheels fall off they fall off fast. The hair? Falling out in clumps. The teeth? Busted, The nose? Same. The feet? Well here's where it gets really good, I mean gross, no let me be honest, good. Here's where it is hammered home that this is not your mama's Cinderella story if you hadn't already figured that out. The shoe, I am sorry to report, does not fit the beleaguered Elvira, so as in the Grimm tale, adjustments must be made and are and I am NOT sorry to report that the special effects do not disappoint.
I won't spoil the ending for you because I really want viewers to have their own visceral experience to what amounts to an incredibly gorgeous film with the darkest of elements and an underlying message that you are enough. You can find "The Ugly Stepsister" on digital and on demand on most platforms and you can get more information by following the creatives, Strike Media Global, Shudder, Vertigo Releasing and the film on Instagram or by checking out their websites.