The Reel Review
Following the sudden death of her new husband, Rebekka sets her sights on physically transforming her homely eldest daughter Elvira into a beauty to capture the heart of the kingdom’s marriage-minded prince. Lea Myren and Ane Dahl Torp (The Wave, The Quake) star in this macabre Norwegian dark comedy/horror take on Cinderella, as told from the ugly stepsister’s point of view.
Writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt’s version of Cinderella more closely mirrors the gruesome 1812 Brothers Grimm fairy tale than it does Disney, with poor Elvira enduring some shocking medical procedures to achieve physical beauty. She swallows a tapeworm larva to lose weight, her braces are ripped out, her nose is brutally broken with a chisel and reshaped, and fake eyelashes are sewn into her eyelids. And that’s just the beginning. It gets MUCH worse.
Thanks to a committed, all-in performance from Myren, solid supporting performances from Torp as her vicious scheming mother and Thea Sofia Loch Næss (La Palma) as the naturally beautiful Cinderella, the graphic, stomach-churning body horror works. It is further aided by an effective medieval, 18th century vibe juxtaposed against a sweet fairy tale score, with Elvira’s younger sister Alma seeming to be the only person immune to the obsessive madness around her.
REEL FACTS
• The Ugly Stepsister is writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt’s film debut.
• Lea Myren, best known for her starring role in the Norwegian drama series Jenter, has also worked as a fashion model.
• There is a scene after the end credits.
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