The Ugly Stepsister

The Ugly Stepsister (Norwegian: Den stygge stesøsteren) is a 2025 comedy horror film co-written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt in her directorial debut. The film, starring Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Ane Dahl Torp, and Flo Fagerli, making use of the motif of the fairy tale Cinderella, retells a twisted story of Elvira who competes against her beautiful stepsister in a bloody battle for beauty. It premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2025, where it opened the Midnight Section.
An International co-production from Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Denmark it was showcased as part of the Panorama at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on 16 February 2025, after its premiere at Sundance. The film was released in Norwegian theaters on 7 March 2025 by Scanbox Entertainment.
In a fantastical world, Elvira attempts to outshine her stunning stepsister, willing to do whatever it takes to attract the prince's attention.
The film is a darkly twisted reimagining of Cinderella, adhering closely to the grimmest versions of the tale. It centers on Elvira's relentless quest for beauty at any cost. Instead of fairy tale silkworms, this story features tapeworms. It includes decomposing bodies, satirical body horror, and a 19th-century surgical transformation. This macabre yet humorous film critiques the beauty industry, which promotes body image as a pathway to desirability, success, and social status. Despite her insecurity, we sympathize with Elvira as she becomes entangled in her greedy mother's extreme beautification scheme, driven by a desire for acceptance and a happily-ever-after. (Sundance)
The film is produced by Maria Ekerhovd of Mer Film, in co-production with Lizette Jonjic, Zentropa Sweden, Mariusz Włodarski, Lava Films and Theis Nørgaard, Motor Productions [dk], with the support from the Norwegian Film Institute, the Polish Production Incentive and the Polish Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, the Danish Film Institute, Eurimages, DR, Nordisk Film & Tv Fond, Vestnorsk Filmsenter. It is distributed by Scanbox, whereas international sales rights are with Memento International. The crew of the film constituted of costume designer Manon Rasmussen, cinematographer Marcel Zyskind, editor Border Olivia Neergaard-Holm, VFX supervisor Peter Hjort and VFX make up Thomas Foldberg.
Describing the film the writer and director Emilie Blichfeldt In an interview said, “This beauty horror twist on Cinderella is inspired by the Brothers Grimm version and by my own struggles with body image,” who further noted that her “goal is to provoke both empathy and discomfort and inspire my audience to reflect upon their perceptions of, and relationship to, beauty.”
The Ugly Stepsister, after its International premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2025 in Midnight Section, had its European premiere in the Panorama section of the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on 16 February 2025.
Shudder, an American over-the-top subscription video on demand service, acquired the rights for North America, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand in December 2024. The film has also been sold by Memento to ESC FIlms Capelight, Beta Film, Lev Cinema, ADS, Cay Films, Cine Canibal, New Select, House of M, PT Falcon, Estin Film and Vendetta Filmes.
The film was released in Norwegian cinemas on 7 March 2025 by Scanbox.
The film is scheduled to be released in the US cinemas on 18 April 2025 by IFC.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 45 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Taking a hammer and chisel to a quintessential fairy tale, The Ugly Stepsister's masterful application of gore and subversion are the stuff that nightmares are made of." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.