👠 Twisted Tiaras and Tapeworms: The Ugly Stepsister Is the Gross Fairy Tale Glow-Up of 2025
What if Cinderella’s stepsisters weren’t just mean… but mutilated? 🩸 Enter The Ugly Stepsister (2025), a gruesome, gut-twisting retelling of the classic fairy tale that drags body horror into the ballroom. Think Cronenberg meets Grimms’ fairy tales – with maggots, silk gowns, and a glass slipper soaked in blood.
Written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt in her bold directorial debut, this Norwegian film premiered at Sundance 2025 (Midnight Section, of course) and has been creeping its way across European cinemas. And now? It’s headed to Shudder for North American and UK horror fans who like their princess tales with a side of sedatives and severed toes.
Here’s everything you need to know about The Ugly Stepsister movie 2025 – including why it’s one of the most talked-about horror flicks of the year.
🩰 Once Upon a Nightmare: What’s The Ugly Stepsister About?
Meet Elvira – our not-so-pretty protagonist, who lives with her sister Alma and their ambitious mother Rebekka, who has married a wealthy old man in hopes of climbing the social ladder. When that man dies on the wedding night (romantic!), the family is left broke – and stuck with his daughter Agnes, a.k.a. our Cinderella figure.
With a royal ball on the horizon, Rebekka pushes Elvira to win the prince’s heart. The problem? Elvira doesn’t have conventional beauty on her side, or so her mother believes. Cue a spiral of primitive surgeries, parasitic diets, and psychological decay. Meanwhile, Agnes becomes the literal Cinderella of the house after being outed for a scandalous barn encounter. And yes, there’s a pumpkin carriage and magical shoes – but also tapeworm vomiting, foot mutilation, and a finale that’s as bleak as it is bloody.
This isn’t your Disney step-sibling rivalry. It’s more like The Substance meets Midsommar, dressed up in haute couture and soaked in trauma.
🧟♀️ Body Horror Meets Fairy Tale Feminism
If The Ugly Stepsister sounds like a grotesque fever dream – that’s intentional. Blichfeldt’s script draws from her own struggles with body image, filtered through a lens of feminine rage, class tension, and beauty obsession. Inspired by Crash (1996), Raw (2016), and yes, the Norwegian dub of Three Wishes for Cinderella, Blichfeldt crafts a world that’s as mythic as it is modern.
“I wanted to provoke both empathy and discomfort,” Blichfeldt says. Mission: accomplished.
There’s a clear commentary on how society punishes women for not being beautiful – or for being too beautiful – and the ways mothers can pass those pressures down like hand-me-down trauma. It’s a glass slipper lined with razor blades.
🎭 Standout Performances (and a Starving Tapeworm)
Lea Myren gives a gut-wrenching performance as Elvira, especially as her physical and emotional transformation spirals out of control.
Thea Sofie Loch Næss brings a quiet power to Agnes – graceful but guarded, never quite the saintly Cinderella we expect.
Ane Dahl Torp as Rebekka is terrifying – equal parts stage mom and ruthless mastermind, pushing her daughter to the brink in pursuit of status.
And a special shoutout to Amalia Holm as Alma, the level-headed and loyal sister. While everyone else spirals, Alma holds the line – and ultimately becomes Elvira’s anchor when it matters most.
Oh, and there’s a tapeworm. A very hungry tapeworm. 🪱
🌍 International Horror with Nordic Flair
The Ugly Stepsister is an international co-production between Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland. Shot in multiple languages and dripping in arthouse sensibility, the film leans into that cold, crisp Nordic aesthetic while diving headfirst into visceral horror.
Costumes by Manon Rasmussen and cinematography from Marcel Zyskind give the film a regal, timeless style – which makes the gore hit even harder.
👠 The Ugly Stepsister (2025) Review
⚠️ Mild spoiler warning: We keep it pretty spoiler-light overall, but if you want to go in completely cold, maybe bookmark this for later.
After a few too many streaming stumbles on Shudder lately, The Ugly Stepsister movie 2025 felt like a viciously refreshing change – brutal, yes, but bold in all the right ways.
This Norwegian horror reimagines Cinderella through a cracked, blood-smeared lens. Think gowns, gore, and a gut-churning take on beauty standards. And while it kicks off with the familiar setup – a newly blended family, a sudden death, and whispers of a royal ball – things quickly spiral into something far darker. And squishier.
🩰 When Pretty Hurts
At the centre of it all is Elvira, who’s told – repeatedly – that she’s not enough. Not pretty enough. Not thin enough. Not good enough. So when she’s offered a disturbing solution to “fix” all that, she takes it. What follows is a slow, stomach-clenching descent that somehow manages to be both grotesque and painfully relatable.
Director Emilie Blichfeldt doesn’t flinch. There are moments in this film that had us watching through our fingers – and we survived The Substance without blinking. One tapeworm scene in particular? We’re still recovering. (Seriously, if you’re squeamish, brace yourself. If you’re not squeamish… you might be after this.)
💔 Stepsisters, Not Stereotypes
What makes The Ugly Stepsister more than just a pretty horror face is the complexity of its characters. Elvira isn’t evil – she’s empathetic, envious, and human, navigating the relentless pressure to be beautiful and worthy. Her stepsister Agnes isn’t your classic Disney angel either, and neither is the prince exactly… charming.
Special shoutout to Alma, the level-headed sister we didn’t expect to love as much as we did. Maybe she and Elvira are the real happily-ever-after.
And of course, Rebekka – the stepmother – is a whole villain era unto herself.
👑 Final Verdict: A Bloody Ballroom Triumph
The Ugly Stepsister movie 2025 is bold, brutal, and weirdly beautiful – a midnight fairy tale soaked in horror and heartbreak. It’s not an easy watch, and definitely not for the faint of stomach, but it is one of the most memorable horror films we’ve seen this year.
✨ Now streaming on Shudder – just maybe don’t watch it while eating.
👠 Themes in The Ugly Stepsister: Beauty, Brutality & the Feminist (Maybe?)
At first glance, The Ugly Stepsister might seem like a twisted feminist fairytale. But things aren’t so simple. This isn’t a story of girl power – it’s a grim, gut-wrenching descent into what happens when women are told their worth lies in their appearance. And then punished for trying to live up to it.
Let’s break it down:
💄 Beauty as Body Horror
This film doesn’t just talk about unrealistic beauty standards – it makes you squirm through them. From weight loss methods that’ll haunt your dreams to surgeries that feel more punishment than pampering, The Ugly Stepsister explores what happens when a young woman internalises the message that she has to suffer – literally – to be beautiful.
This isn’t just metaphor. It’s horror.
And that’s the point.
🧬 Generational Pressure & Misogyny
Rebekka (the stepmother) isn’t evil for fun. She’s desperate, clinging to the belief that her daughter’s beauty is the family’s last ticket out of poverty. She’s not just enforcing beauty standards – she’s surviving through them. That’s a powerful commentary on how patriarchy often passes through the hands of women trying to protect themselves.
It’s uncomfortable. And it should be.
🪞 Power, Envy & Identity
Agnes may be our Cinderella stand-in, but she’s no glittering saint. She’s quiet, passive, and happens to be everything Elvira is told she’s not: pretty, chosen, lucky. Meanwhile, Elvira – our so-called “ugly” sister – is the emotional heart of the film. She’s insecure, driven, human.
The story asks: What happens when being “enough” means being someone else entirely?
🔄 A Twisted Fairytale Mirror
The Ugly Stepsister flips the classic narrative on its head. The stepsister isn’t cruel. The prince isn’t charming. The “happy ending” isn’t about winning a man – it might just be about walking away from all of it.
Is it feminist?
Kind of. It critiques the systems that hurt women, but it doesn’t offer a clean escape. It’s not empowerment – it’s exposure. It’s not a revolution – it’s survival.
📅 Where to Watch The Ugly Stepsister
- Premiered: January 23, 2025 at Sundance (Midnight Section)
- Norway Theatrical Release: March 7, 2025
- Denmark Release: May 28, 2025
- Sweden Release: June 13, 2025
- North America, UK, Australia & NZ: Streaming now on Shudder
🧵 Final Thoughts: A Cautionary (and Bloody) Tale
The Ugly Stepsister movie 2025 isn’t for the faint of heart – or the full of stomach. But beneath the blood and bile is a wickedly smart critique of beauty, power, and what it takes to be chosen. It’s not about becoming the princess. It’s about surviving the story.
So grab your slippers, steel your gut, and prepare to cringe. This fairy tale bites back.
👉 Looking for more creepy watches? Check out our other movie reviews here — we’re always adding fresh takes on the weird, the wild, and the wonderfully twisted.