The Ugly Stepsister had its premiere in January this year at the Sundance Festival. Debutant director – Emilie Blichfeldt is the director of this international production. The film is mostly in Norwegian, and in addition to working with her fellow countrymen, Blichfeldt has engaged producers from Romania, Denmark, Sweden, and Poland. This is just the beginning of the diversity in the film – the picture itself is a masterful combination of body-horror, grotesque comedy, satire on beauty standards and social universalities, but also an unconventional interpretation of the Cinderella story.
Overtly referring to the now legendary fairy tale, which has been interpreted and reworked as often in Asia as in Europe, the authors decided to focus this time on the other side of the coin. The title character is the figure in the story that rivaled Cinderella. Initially, she is presented by the filmmakers as the one we should sympathize with and even cheer for in her pathological competition for the attention of the local prince. Emilie Blichfeldt’s film is both a satire on the unyielding standards of beauty and on one of the oldest values that hierarchize society – wealth and birth. The number of inspirations that may have guided the director in working on her debut seems very numerous, but this is an extremely positive development. Looking in more recent productions, we find Substance by Coralie Fargeat or Titane by Julia Ducournau. On the other hand, it is impossible to create a film hooked on this genre without reference to the absolute master of the genre – David Cronenberg, whose work also resounds between the lines in Blichfeldt’s film.
The Ugly Stepsister does not spare any stereotype it undertakes to criticize. In this often-unequal battle, the film comes out victorious every time it throws down the gauntlet. Blichfeldt’s film is watched with a great deal of pleasure, and if one likes such expressive films, one will not leave the cinema with a stomachache from often laughing. Making a debut like this really creates a very good start to one’s career, and it’s likely that anyone who sees this film will look forward to the Norwegian’s future projects. Following in the footsteps of Elvira (Lea Myren), who undergoes a series of treatments and surgeries designed to make her “beautiful,” we see how much the heroine is willing to sacrifice to make her dream come true. It would seem that this is her dream, but the way she is cheered on by her mother, Rebecca (Ane Dahl Torp), suggests to us that she is probably more interested in fulfilling this goal by her surroundings, rather than by the main person involved. Elvira’s rival – the beautiful stepsister – Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) undergoes a typical sinuous transformation from being in the limelight because the fall to the bottom of the social pyramid.
Emilie Blichfeldt walked in the film industry with the door, and her debut is one of the best entries in the current festival season. The Ugly Stepsister is bloody, over-colored and at times ludicrously violent, but the whole thing is cast in such an aesthetic that it’s much closer here to a comedy than to a thriller. By choosing such a well-known theme as the story of Cinderella, the director in a way took a big risk, since practically every film viewer already has this plot established in their imagination. Despite this, the director, by creating a literary and social criticism, came out of this challenge with her hand and, to put it bluntly, introduced herself to the world of film.
The Ugly Stepsister (directed by Emilia Blichfeldt) is a must-see during the 18th Mastercard OFF CAMERA in the ‘Making Way’ Main Competition.
Screening list:
- 02/05/2025 | 20:45 |Aula ASP |Academy of Fine Arts.
Q&A with the filmmakers will take place during the screening of the film on May 2 at 8:45 pm at the Academy of Fine Arts.
Q&A in English.
The screening takes place in the ASP cinema, which is equipped with an induction loop for the hearing and hearing-impaired.
Marcin Telega