2025 Sundance Film Festival Movie Review: The Ugly Stepsister

The Ugly Stepsister takes place in the 19th century and follows Elvira (Lea Myren), whose mother (Ane Dahl Torp) marries the father of the beautiful Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss ). Following the death of her stepfather, Elvira’s mother finds out that her family, despite looking wealthy, has no money. The only option the family has is to marry into fortune, but with Agnes being so beautiful, Elvira is forced to go under extreme measures to change her appearance and try to capture the eye of a prince. 

The Ugly Stepsister is a stylish retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ Cinderella tale. While the film focuses on Cinderella’s step-sister and her family, it still hits the classic beats we’ve come to know for a Cinderella movie. We see her being a housemaid for her stepmother and sisters, but this only happens after Agnes is caught sleeping with a stable boy. We see her become a house servant for her step mother, her fairy godmother and we see her lose her shoe at the ball. But this is only a small part of the film. The Ugly Stepsister is about Elvira and her journey to be “beautiful” in a world where men only see women as objects and women only see men for their money. Despite its setting, the theme of impossible beauty standards still rings true today.

Elvira’s journey to beauty is grotesque and brutal. Scenes like Elvira getting eyelash implants or getting her nose fixed, all with no anesthesia, had me and many people in my screening squirming in their seats. Director Emilie Blichfeldt doesn’t shy away from the brutality of these procedures and she makes sure we feel all of Elvira’s pain, using close-ups of the surgeries and making sure we hear the wailing pain Elvira is in. While the film starts a little slower, the final act is a delirious barrage of gore and the lengths someone will go to get what they want.

The Ugly Stepsister marks the directorial debut of Blichfeldt and the acting debut of Lea Myren and both are impressive. Blichfeldt shows strong command behind the camera. While mostly horror, she knows when to drop a moment of humor. The practical effects are outstanding and the production design of a 19th-century Gothic castle is beautiful. Myren gives a committed, bonkers performance of a naive woman brainwashed by her mother who becomes obsessed with certain beauty standards only for it to make her uglier than she ever was. These are two new talents we all need to keep our eye on.

The brutality and goriness are on full display in The Ugly Stepsister. This isn’t your grandma’s Cinderella tale. This is a new version for a new world and it will have your jaw on the floor.

The Ugly Stepsister premiered in the Midnight category of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

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