52 Films by Women Vol 9. 6. Den Stygge Stesøsteren (The Ugly Stepsister) (Director: Emilie Blichfeldt)

Pictured: Dr Esthétique (Adam Lundgren) goes to work on Elvira (Lea Myren), a young woman who dreams of marrying a prince, in a scene from the 2025 Norwegian horror film, Den Stygge Stesøsteren (The Ugly Stepsister), written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt. Still courtesy of Mer Film / Vertigo Releasing (UK)

Scaring easily, I am not an enthusiast for horror films. Fortunately, most modern horror films use digital rather than practical effects and don’t frighten me as much. However, the Norwegian film, Den Stygge Stesøsteren (The Ugly Stepsister) is old school, with two sequences that made me cover my eyes.  Written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt, the film is as much a homage to 1970s horror flicks – synthesizer soundtrack, misty exteriors, raw landscapes, camp performances – as a reaction to them. It describes the futility of believing that beauty is the route to happiness. To reverse the cliché, 80% of desirable men want 20% of available women but for all their looks and wealth, the men are self-absorbed, crude and boring.

Blichfeldt takes for her inspiration the Brothers Grimm story, Cinderella but relates events from the stepsister’s point of view. For much of the film, I didn’t think about the source material, owing to the shift in focus. Essentially, it is a black comedy with a rotting corpse at its centre. It begins with a coach ride to a faraway mansion. Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) is taking her two teenage daughters, Elvira (Lea Myren) and Alma (Flo Fagerli) to meet their stepfather to be, Otto (Ralph Carlsson), a widower. The residence has a view of the castle on the high hill where Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth) lives. Elvira is obsessed with Prince Julian’s poetry, verse that describes his desire to meet a virgin. Her deepest wish is to live in the arms of a prince. She’s the sort of young woman who doesn’t take the hand of a footman when she leaves the coach. After sealing his union with Rebekka on the balcony – doves are released – Otto hosts a meal for his new family, his daughter Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Naess) having to accept a replacement mother and two new sisters. Greeting the appearance of a beautifully iced cake, Otto carves a slice and throws it across the table, some of it landing on Elvira. This source of mirth triggers a cardiac arrest; Otto’s face descends into confectionary. There are worse horrors to come. Otto has no money. Electing not to bury him and allowing the surrounding lands and livestock to be transferred to his debtors, Rebekka decides to prepare Elvira for her wedding. She must win the heart of Prince Julian at all costs. Alma thinks her mother and sister are bat sh-t crazy.

Initially friendly towards Elvira, Agnes is consumed by grief. Elvira brings some hot chocolate to her room. The blond beautiful Agnes says nothing until Elvira picks up her hairbrush. Agnes sends her away. At this point, we have residual sympathy for Elvira, though it doesn’t last.

A messenger from the Royal Household arrives at the house. All eligible virgins are invited to a ball to take place four lunar cycles from now. Agnes is the first to receive an invitation, which is written on the spot. She has a noblewoman’s name. The messenger looks at Elvira, who tells him her first name. ‘Von?’ he asks. Elvira looks puzzled. The messenger repeats the question. ‘She’s my stepsister,’ Agnes tells him. The messenger works his quill before handing Elvira a sheet of curled papyrus, an invitation to ‘Elvira von Stepsister’. Elvira is slighted but grateful.

Both young women are enrolled into finishing school, where Madame (Katarzyna Herman) sends Elvira to the back of the room. Her mother calls in Dr Esthétique (Adam Lundgren), a beautician whose methods turn the stomach. Ostensibly French, he appears to have a stick-on moustache. Dr Esthétique’s first task to ‘fix’ Elvira’s nose, which involves a chisel on the bridge. One, two, three – hammer time. Elvira is required to wear a nose-guard until the considerable swelling – briefly shown in a later scene – goes down. Before she undergoes beautification, the doctor advertises sew-on eyelash extensions, perfect for accentuating Elvira’s eyes. This is a cue for a later scene which I found hard to watch.

The guard over Elvira’s nose does not help her to win friends and influence people, but she keeps trying. Clearly, Agnes is the front runner for being the belle of the ball. Some of the young women are selected for a dance performance at the palace. Waiting her turn to look at the list, Elvira doesn’t expect to be chosen. However, her name appears at the bottom, replacing another young woman whose name is crossed through. Apparently, Elvira’s mother paid a lot.

‘You have talent,’ Elvira is told by the Madame, ‘wasted talent. You remind me of myself.’ Elvira is surprised. More so to receive a gift – a pearl-like tapeworm egg. Swallow this, Elvira is told, and she can eat what she likes. There is also an antidote.

Pictured: Elvira (Lea Myren) in a scene from the Norwegian horror film, Den Stygge Stesøsteren (The Ugly Stepsister) written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt. Still courtesy of Mer Film / Vertigo Releasing (UK)

At an outdoor picnic, Elvira tells Alma about the tapeworm. Alma is appalled. ‘You and mother are mad,’ she tells her. Disgusted, she leaves the picnic, taking both horses. Walking back, Elvira runs into the aforementioned Prince Julian, who is out with two other young men, the sort to make lewd comments. Julian stares at Elvira, before announcing to his companions that he would never f- her. Elvira flees the scene, in my opinion for good reason. Julian has a bow and arrow in his hand; he might not be that great a shot.

Arriving back at the mansion at night, Elvira hears a noise in the stable. Much earlier, during their more pleasant chats, Agnes introduced Elvira to Isak (Malte Gårdinger). ‘He looks after the horses,’ Elvira is told. He looks at Elvira (prior to her encounter with a chisel) with something approaching lust. However, he is in love with Agnes. She loves him but has to marry Prince Julian. This does not prevent them from being intimate, as Elvira discovers after investigating the nocturnal disturbance. She spies Isak mounting Agnes from behind.

The next day, Rebekka dismisses Isak, who flees from the house without any clothes. She curses Agnes with a sexually derogatory term and puts her to work. Depressed, Agnes starts missing her classes. Elvira swallows the tapeworm egg.

Elvira receives an unexpected gift when a moustachioed man arrives with a large chest. Earlier, Elvira struggled to fit into a blue dress. The chest contains a dress that fits her better. ‘You don’t know what it cost me to get this,’ Rebekka tells her, though we can guess as the moustachioed man looks at the older woman lustfully.

At one point, Elvira gets depressed, lying next to the dining table where Otto’s corpse continues to rot. Agnes feeds her cake and spaghetti. The suggestion is that cake is the one into which Otto buried his face.

Pictured: Prince Julian (Isac Calmroth) dances with the beatific Elvira (Lea Myren) in a scene from the Norwegian horror film, Den Stygge Stesøsteren (The Ugly Stepsister), written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt. Still courtesy of Mer Film / Vertigo Releasing (UK)

The film builds to the prince’s ball. Then the Cinderella plot really kicks in, with Agnes receiving a spectral visitation. By this time, Elvira has her eyelash extensions. Her once bruised nose is transformed and she, like other young debutantes, is presented at court followed by the Madame. ‘This is Elvira. Her favourite food is vegetables,’ the prince is told. ‘We’ve seen her eat more,’ snickers a young man. ‘She likes to take long walks.’ The prince is taken with her and invites her to dance. Suddenly a veiled stranger appears, whose ripped blue dress – in an earlier tussle with Elvira – has been repaired by silkworms.

The finale leads to the second wince-making sequence as the prince announces that ‘whoever’s foot fits this shoe I shall marry.’ Elvira steals Agnes’ other shoe. She measures her own foot against it, then takes drastic measures. Rebekka, who has brought home a lustful admirer, looks upon her daughter piteously. ‘That’s the wrong foot,’ she says, before drugging her and performing corrective surgery. Elvira’s daydreams of being swept up in the arms of a prince are replaced by sober reality.

Throughout the film, Elvira switches from being empathetic to spiteful – it is implied she told her mother about Isak. Only her younger sister, who starts to menstruate midway through the drama, and needs Elvira’s help, is well-adjusted; she isn’t a poetry fan. By the end of the film, which features male sexualised nudity but not its female equivalent, Alma is the one who takes decisive action, with Elvira crawl-sliding down a flight of stairs.

Prompting the audience to laugh, gasp and shudder by turns, Blichfeldt achieves her objective in delivering a cautionary tale aimed at impressionable young girls. The true audience for the film may be too young to watch it – the physical violence is extreme – but perhaps it will dissuade them from cosmetic surgery. There is a post credit sting involving the aforementioned corpse, reminding us that ugliness is the fate of us all.

Reviewed at Screen 7, Finsbury Park Picture House, North London, Thursday 1^st May 2025, 17:45 screening