Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
In a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira battles to compete with her incredibly beautiful stepsister, Agnes, and she will go to any length to catch the Prince’s eye.
The Ugly Stepsister is a striking Norwegian body-horror reimagining of Cinderella told from the stepsister's perspective, making it immediately distinctive in concept and execution. Its cinematography is visceral and deliberately unsettling, leaning into grotesque beauty rituals with unflinching visual commitment that elevates it well above average indie horror fare. Novelty is genuinely high — the satirical inversion of the fairy-tale gaze, the body-horror framing of feminine beauty standards, and its unflinching tone give it a singular voice rarely seen in this subgenre. The acting is competent and earnest but uneven across the cast, landing solidly above average without reaching exceptional. The plot is thematically rich but structurally somewhat predictable given its fairy-tale scaffolding — the satirical commentary is sharp but the narrative beats don't fully surprise. The ending is tonally appropriate and resonant but stops short of being truly memorable or fully cathartic, keeping it in above-average territory.