By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Starring Lea Myren, Thea-Sofie Loch Næss and Ane Dahl Torp
Written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt
IFC Films/Shudder
While the Disney company has been busy scrubbing its classic princesses free of any trace of romantic yearning in their live-action remakes in the name of political correctness, here comes THE UGLY STEPSISTER to confront those themes head-on. A handsomely produced period film with a very modern body-horror approach, it inverts, criticizes and tracks blood all over the idea of ugliness and beauty standards, how young women strive to achieve the latter and why.
At the same time, THE UGLY STEPSISTER (which just had its East Coast premiere at the Boston Underground Film Festival, and comes to theaters in the U.S. April 18 and the UK April 25) is a gripping and frightening horror feature that harks all the way back to the dark materials of the Brothers Grimm tale. A bit involving the stepsisters’ feet in their telling of “Cinderella” is often cited as an example of the Grimms’ macabre bent, and yes, that’s here, in excruciating detail. If this isn’t the grimmest screen fairy tale in recent years, it may well be the grossest.
One of the secrets of its success, however, is that it is also, on what was no doubt a limited budget, a great-looking, well-appointed film, using real locations and natural lighting (by cinematographer Marcel Zyskind) to transportive ends. In this beauteous environment, Elvira (Lea Myren) seems fated to forever live in the shadow of her more conventionally attractive stepsister Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss). But a girl can dream, and Elvira’s fantasies are centered on Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth), whose romantic poetry enraptures her, though the side of him she doesn’t see, but we do, is less appealing. When Julian announces an impending ball at which he will choose his bride, both Agnes and Elvira sign right up, though the latter doesn’t have a titled name to add to the list, and she’s RSVP’d as “Elvira the Stepsister.” That’s no impediment to Elvira’s scheming mother Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp), who has been widowed early in the movie and will do whatever it takes to get the girl hitched to the wealthy prince, even if it kills her.
And it almost does. Elvira goes through a transformative regimen, largely at the hands of the wonderfully named Dr. Esthétique (Adam Lundgren), that blurs the lines between makeover and mutilation. There’s at least one scene here, involving Elvira’s eyes, that’s guaranteed to make you cover yours. And part of the horror of THE UGLY STEPSISTER is that the girl is not an entirely unwilling victim; she believes these horrific means justify the ends, namely winning the prince’s heart and hand, and voluntarily undertakes a treatment with most unpleasant side effects to bring her weight down. In its exploring of body-image issues though a most visceral genre lens, the film makes a fine companion piece for THE SUBSTANCE.
Whereas Coralie Fargeat’s breakout hit was focused on current media, UGLY STEPSISTER writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt, making a very confident feature debut, digs deep into classic folk tales and their tropes of beautiful princesses and handsome princes. Times may have changed but in many ways, expectations haven’t, which means that Blichfeldt is able to pointedly and scarily address her of-the-moment themes without breaking the finely crafted period spell her movie casts. In addition to Zyskind, kudos also go to production designers Sabine Hviid and Klaudia Klimka-Bartczak, costume designer Manon Rasmussen, makeup and hair designer Anne Chatrine Sauerberg and prosthetic effects creator Thomas Foldberg, whose contributions are all first-rate (and, in Foldberg’s case, seriously squirm-inducing). The score by Vilde Tuv and Kaada combines modern and classical influences for pitch-perfect musical accompaniment.
Myren, also making her first feature after a good deal of television work, is a true discovery: sensitive and sympathetic even as Elvira seems to be heedlessly effecting her own undoing. The rest of the cast contribute appropriately naturalistic and heightened performances, helping THE UGLY STEPSISTER maintain its “Once upon a time” veneer while also remaining very relevant.
