The Ugly Stepsister

I really loved the lead performance, this sister who is really committed to try and do everything right.

That’s impressive — 30 years of film criticism and this is the first time that I’ve had to turn away from the screen for fear of retching.

The film’s creative gore alone cannot paper over the ultimate flimsiness of Blichfeldt’s concept, which amounts to an adolescent scrawl of fairytale satire.

A smart, bold, and visually rich work that both enchants and challenges.


The Norwegian writer-director Emilie Blichfeldt roasts conventional heroines and female beauty standards in this gruesome, hilarious reworking of Cinderella.

This is a movie hyper-aware of the sexual and patriarchal imagery of Cinderella... Blichfeldt has made an elegant debut.

Blichfeldt’s premiere will remind body horror fans of other amazing firsts from Coralie Fergeat’s “Revenge” (2017) or Julia Ducournau’s “Raw” (2016). Out of the three, Blichfeldt may have the hardest assignment

At one point, a poster on the wall reads "beauty is pain," and that's disturbingly true in this twisted fairy-tale rewrite that makes the Brothers Grimm look like child's play.

Not for the squeamish, Emilie Blichfeldt's The Ugly Stepsister is one twisted and subversive fairy tale.

It’s taking all my strength to not crash just at the thought of how delightfully messed up this is. I’m able to have this visceral reaction days after screening because of the way all the pieces of the puzzle came together for this production.