The Ugly Stepsister
Emilie Blichfeldt’s incredible The Ugly Stepsister should not be missed. It would be easy to categorize The Ugly Stepsister as a Dark Comedy replete with Body Horror. If you like these type of films – see The Ugly Stepsister. If you do not care for these type of films, put your skepticism aside and take in The Ugly Stepsister. Yes, The Ugly Stepsister is top drawer as a Dark Comedy and Body Horror film. However, it offers so much more.
The Ugly Stepsister flips the Cinderella storyline on its head. The view is from the eyes of the stepsister, not Cinderella.
The script (by Blichfelt) gives virtually every character and sub-plot some type of dimension. Therefore it is a pleasant surprise to see not a single supporting character in the film as a cardboard character. The actors seem to seize upon the opportunity. The implication is that The Ugly Stepsister offers more substance, sizzle, and change to a story than you might otherwise expect.
The lynch-pin to the film’s success lies with Leah Myren’s performance a Elvira: The Ugly Stepsister. Myren is nothing short of stellar as Elvira. Elvira is at times a fairy tale day-dreamer, naive, demure, deferential and and all-together too trusting. At other times, she is focused, of single-purpose, and relentless.
Critical to this film’s success is that Myren is a performer who can adjust their face and body posture at a moments notice. It is enhanced to almost perfection by the costuming from Manon Rasmussen, Makeup by Anne Cathrine Sauerberg, and Prosthetic Makeup by Thomas Foldberg. At points throughout the film Myren looks to be beautiful, a princess, clumsy and ungainly, a bit overweight, or the victim of the relentless pursuit of body perfection.
The Ugly Stepsister is rounded out nicely by high quality work in cinematography (Marcel Zyskind), Production Design (Sabine Hviid and Klaudia Klimka), and Music (John Erik Kaada and Vilde Tuv). Each aspect was memorable as being additive to the film experience as a whole.
*** Jeff’s Thought’s and Other Worthless Trivia ***
The Ugly Stepsister is materially graphic in its depiction of the pursuit of the perfect body. It presents sexual relations in the process of occurring.
I am not a fan of Body Horror type films. I took in The Ugly Stepsister anyways,
