The Ugly Stepsister is a dark comedy/body horror an inversion/adaptation of Cinderella. After their new stepfather's untimely death all financial pressures of the family are put on Elvira(Lea Myren). Through Elvira's own self hatred and her mother Rebekka's(Ane Dahl Torp) prodding she subjects herself to increasing tortures and humiliations in order to become beautiful and compete for the Prince's affections with her conventionally attractive stepsister Agnes(Thea Sofie Loch Næss).
Myren gives a full-on, everything-she's-got performance, leaving it all on the screen. The performance is incredibly brave, vulnerable, and fully realized. The character, with her compromises and complicity, is complicated and Myren lays it all bare. Torp is effective and appealing as the severe and avarious evil stepmother and Loch Næss is good as the supporting Cinderella. The other stepsister Alma played by Flo Fagerli brings much needed contextualization and eccentricity to it. The rest of the supporting cast are all really effective save for the men who are, deliberately and justly, two dimensional.
Visually the film is brimming with style, the shot composition beautiful and meticulous. The body horror sequences pretty difficult to stomach(ie effective). And there's a really interesting blend of the pastoral and the grotesque. The score isn't quite as effective, plays a bit immature at times sounding a bit like stock scoring or 8-bit video game tracks. Overall though the production helmed by first time writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt is brimming with ambition and talent. Perhaps doesn't quite hit as hard coming just a year after The Substance which if a very different movie but goes after very similar themes. Where it falls a bit short is that it doesn't quite come together, ultimately isn't super potent, more idea and premise than effecting narrative.
Not quite equal to the sum of it's parts.
Currently available to rent on most VOD platforms.
Rent It.
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