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We got sent a trailer for The Ugly Stepsister the other day, and it looked interesting. I know some of you were put off by the images, but I thought it looked like a good watch.
There is a UK release for The Ugly Stepsister, and they wanted a quote for the poster. I was sent a screener and watched it the other day. We didn’t get a quote on the poster, but damn if this wasn’t a great movie.
The Ugly Stepsister stars Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Lock Næss, Ane Dahl Torp, Isac Calmroth, Malte Gardinger, Ralph Carlsson and Katarzyna Herman. Emillie Blichfeldt is the writer and director.
The Story
The story is based on Cinderella:
Follows Elvira as she battles against her gorgeous stepsister in a realm where beauty reigns supreme. She resorts to extreme measures to captivate the prince, amidst a ruthless competition for physical perfection.
We meet Elvira (Myren) as her mother marries into a new family. Elvira is in awe of her new stepsister, Agnes (Sofie Loch Næss), who is beautiful, confident and has the love of the handsome stable boy. Everything that Elvira doesn’t have.
Before the wedding night, Anges’ father dies, and Elvira, her mother and her sister are left with poor Anges. The mother, Elivia and her sister, treat her like crap, because she’s the Cinderella in this story.
The girls are invited to a ball with the Prince, he will choose a bride, and they will never have to worry about money again. Elvira feels it’s her destiny to be with the Prince.
Who’s The Ugly Sister?
This was the very clever part of The Ugly Stepsister. Elvira isn’t the prettiest of girls, so she’s going to need some work to become beautiful and better herself. The downside is that surgery isn’t cheap, and it’s also lacking in silly things like anesthetics or painkillers.
Her new nose will make her pretty, but she’s going to have to have it done old school. Pin her down and chisel her a new nose. I’ve got a pretty strong stomach, but even I was curling in my chair.
What’s the best way to lose a few pounds off the middle? Not the Atkins Diet, instead, she swallows a tape-worm. However, what goes in, has to come out.
After all this, Elvira goes to finishing school, where she learns to walk, talk and dance like a princess. She has to work for everything, through pain and suffering.
Mild Spoilers
When she gets to the ball, who does the Prince end up with? Cinderella, of course! She’s naturally beautiful, gifted and has the poise of a princess. The problem is, this was Elvira’s happy ending, not hers!
In the last act of the movie, you find yourself feeling very sorry for Elvira. All that work and pain, only to have the carpet pulled from under her. There are a lot of movies that look at stories from a different angle, and The Ugly Stepsister does this very, very cleverly.
In most stories, there is a winner and a loser. We’re generally always rooting for the main protagonist. What about the other people? It made me think of the henchmen that get killed in Austin Powers; no one ever thinks of the henchmen’s families.
We all know how Cinderella had a bad life, evil stepsisters, but found true love in the prince. This wasn’t all that fair on the stepsisters, though, maybe they weren’t evil, maybe they just wanted their happy ending. That doesn’t make someone evil, it just makes them their own protagonist in their own story.
A Serbian Film
I read on the IMDb that someone compared The Ugly Stepsister to A Serbian Film and August Underground. Idiot, this is nothing like them at all. I will say, yes, there are scenes that are uncomfortable, very uncomfortable, but this isn’t torture porn.
This movie shows what some people will go through to be beautiful. Going through any surgery isn’t going to be a bed of roses, it’s going to hurt. The downside is, in the 1700s, it didn’t have all the benefits of modern hospitals.
Another spoiler, but there is also a scene where she is given eyelash extensions. Modern ladies are used to gluing these on, but glue wasn’t big in the 1700s, so the best way to do it? Sew them on, of course.
Again, I’m pretty chill with stuff, but the way the scene was filmed, I still have no idea how they did it without actually doing it. As I said though, this isn’t torture porn for the sake of it, each scene (of which I have left a couple of you to find yourself) is there for a reason.
I wouldn’t say they are gratuitous, but they aren’t fun to watch.
Overall
The main thing, overall, with The Ugly Stepsister is that the story is a very clever piece of work and the director/writer has put a lot of thought into the story. I saw it a couple of weeks ago now, and the story has really made me think.
Sure, some of the more extreme scenes are living rent-free in my head, but I keep coming back to how well-played out the story was. This wasn’t just a ‘new take on an old story’, I mean, it is, but it’s very, very well done.
The movie was in Norwegian, and the version I saw had the subtitles run a little out of sync, which I did report. But it took nothing away from what is an original piece of artwork and was very well done.
The Ugly Stepsister is a very good movie, honestly, I think it might be one of the best of the year so far. It was so nice to watch something that is beautifully crafted, very well made, and a very clever blend of fairytale and the macabre. Disney, this is not.
It’s a perfect date movie, as it’s a period drama, but your other half might get annoyed with you at some of the extreme scenes. However, as I said, they aren’t gratuitous; they are there for a reason. Chances are, she will moan at them, though. I plan on watching it again with Mrs Boba Phil, firstly to see it again and secondly to annoy her. I don’t mind sleeping on the couch again.
The Ugly Stepsister will be in US cinemas on the 18th of April and UK cinemas on the 25th of April.
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