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The Ugly Stepsister was written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt, and it’s not like some of the other fairy tale horror remakes you’ve seen lately. This is a dark twist on the story of Cinderella and what it really means to be obsessed with beauty standards at any cost. Set in a fantastical version of the 19th century, it stars Lea Myren as Elvira, a young women willing to do whatever it takes to catch the prince’s eye — and outshine her stepsister in the process.
As you can see in the trailer above, Elvira’s quest for perfection takes her well past rudimentary cosmetic surgery into something darker, with no voice of reason to talk her down. The stepmother, Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) has her own greedy agenda here, and it doesn’t appear that the stepsister Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) is entirely innocent either.
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The Ugly Stepsister had its world premiere in January at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, where it was an instant hit among critics from all around the world. It has since performed well at other film festivals, and it hit Norwegian cinemas on March 7th. Shudder acquired the international distribution rights, so it will handle the movies theatrical runs in North America, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. Presumably, it will eventually host the movie in its vast horror library on the Shudder streaming service, but there’s no word on when.
At the time of this writing, The Ugly Stepsister boasts a 97% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes‘ Tomatometer, with 39 trusted critics accounted for. Reviews praise the movie for taking important ideas to shocking extremes, a twist that seems to be pretty welcome in the world of Cinderella. They also warn audiences never to get comfortable, as the most shocking moment of the movie is always one scene away.
The Ugly Stepsister hits theaters in the U.S. on Friday, April 18th, and in the U.K. on April 25th. Tickets are on sale now.
