Think about a film with the plot construction of a fairy story and the aesthetics of The Substance and also you’d get one thing like The Ugly Stepsister. Retelling the Cinderella fable as a horror movie, The Ugly Stepsister facilities round Elvira (Lea Myren), the titular ugly duckling who can’t compete together with her new stepsister’s pure magnificence. She tries, although, and her painful makes an attempt to beautify herself, which contain primitive cosmetic surgery strategies and ingesting tapeworms to drop a few pounds, solely drive her sibling right into a good-looking prince’s arms. Can Elvira discover her completely satisfied ending, or is she destined to be “the ugly stepsister” till she dies?
Director Emilie Blichfeldt properly bypasses Disney’s squeaky-clean model of Cinderella and focuses on the gruesomeness inherent within the authentic Brothers Grimm story. Physique horror is extra common than ever now, and it’s by no means been used extra successfully than it has right here. The lengths Elvira goes to vary her physique, which entails breaking her personal nostril to make it extra “excellent,” should not solely successfully scary, but additionally a sly commentary on the unimaginable magnificence requirements ladies face then and now.
And whereas The Ugly Stepsister is a deep, complicated image that’s impeccably acted, stunning to take a look at and thought-provoking, it’s additionally an excellent horror film that provides you all of the blood and viscera you need in a style image. Don’t miss considered one of 2025’s most shocking — and finest — films.