150 Word Review: 'The Ugly Stepsister' (2025)
A dream is a wish your heart makes
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but ugly is personal. The Ugly Stepsister is a Norwegian retelling of the fairy tale Cinderella that asks, "What if you're the villain in someone else's story and don't know it?"
This is writer-director Emilie Blichfeldt's debut feature, a gross-out comedy about the gruesome self-mutilations some endure to get what they want.
Lea Myren is magnificent as the title character, Elvira, the poor victim of bad luck. She is one of two daughters of the most famous stepmother in literature, a woman who marries for money. Sad: When her elderly fiancé dies on their wedding day, she learns that he, too, had been hoping to marry for money.
Their only shot at upward mobility? Impress a prince at a ball. Too bad the dead dad's golden-haired child also has her eyes on that prize. Later, there is a profoundly vile vomit scene.
Profoundly Vile Vomit Scene would be an excellent name for a grindcore album.
I loved this film. It had all the charm of Pearl and its feminism came across in the same demented but truthful way.