"Beauty Is Pain": 'The Ugly Stepsister' Is "Not Afraid To Go There" With Its Twisted Fairy Tale Body Horror

2 hours ago 3

Sundance

Summary

Collider's Perri Nemiroff sits down with the writer-director and cast of The Ugly Stepsister at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
Emilie Blichfeldt's debut feature, The Ugly Stepsister, is a twisted retelling of Cinderella through the eyes of the other sister, about the lengths she'll go to be beautiful.
In this interview, Blichfeldt, Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, and Ane Dahl Torp discuss how the film explores body issues and self-acceptance, and working together to bring this vision to the screen.

As part of the Sundance Film Festival's Midnight line-up, first-time feature filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt swept the audience away to her own twisted fairy tale world in The Ugly Stepsister. This is no Disney Cinderella story, but instead, it revisits the OG Brothers Grimm with their sawed-off toes and challenges the idea that "beauty is pain," and beauty is everything.

It's hard not to draw comparisons to a recent fellow festival darling, Coralie Fargeat's now Oscar-nominated film, The Substance. The narratives couldn't be further from one another, but both boast a crew of talented women tackling similar themes with gruesome, unflinching body horror, with rising female writer-directors at the helm. In the case of The Ugly Stepsister, a story Blichfeldt worked on for five years, the director tells Collider's Perri Nemiroff, "I had no idea how to crack this idea open ... but I knew this was my mission." She goes on to emphasize the importance of this specific script, saying, "I decided quite early, 'This is what I want to do. If I can't make this movie, I won't make movies.'"

So, why was The Ugly Stepsister so crucial for Blichfeldt to bring to screen? At the festival, the filmmaker and her cast members Lea Myren (Elvira, the stepsister), Thea Sofie Loch Næss (Agnes, this film's spin on Cinderella), and Ane Dahl Torp (Rebekka, the mother) dropped by the Collider media studio at the Rendezvous Cinema Center to talk about the film's message and how it resonated with each of them. They discuss how Blichfeldt guides her production, performance challenges with prosthetics and pushing the limits of grotesquerie, and how the script affects their own views on society's standards for beauty. You can watch their full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below.

Body Horror That Examines "Beauty Is Pain" With a Fairy Tale Spin

Emilie Blichfeldt identified with "a character in one of our most beloved fairy tales that had been mocked, ridiculed, and detested."

Lea Myren with a nose mask on it in The Ugly Stepsister

PERRI NEMIROFF: I was debating about cursing, but I know you're all going to do it so, holy shit! I knew from the second the movie started that it was going to be my vibe and it was going to be a really great spin on the classic Cinderella story, but then when you get to the end, holy shit! Clearly, I know what your movie is about, but our audience is first going to learn about it through Sundance. Emilie, would you mind doing the honors and giving a brief synopsis?

EMILIE BLICHFELDT: The Ugly Stepsister is about Elvira. It's a fairy tale. It's a twist on Cinderella—you all got that by now—with the ugly stepsister in the main part. Her name is Elvira, and she dreams of marrying the poet prince. He's kind of like the Justin Bieber of our universe, and she's a Belieber. When she's invited to the ball, she will do anything to try to become beautiful enough to compete with her stepsister, Agnes, or Cinderella.

I know you were really eager to explore and dismantle that idea that beauty is pain. When you had that idea in your head, what was it about subverting the classic Cinderella story that made you think, “This is the best way for me to hit these ideas home?”

BLICHFELDT: I have shoe size 11, so when I rediscovered the Brothers Grimm version as an adult and this very grim scene where one of the stepsisters cuts off her toes to try to fit the impossibly small shoe, I immediately identified with her, not only because I’ve worn a lot of too-small shoes in my lifetime, but also because I've been struggling with body issues. A few years prior, I’d also fallen in love with body horror, so when this idea came to me, it was just too good to be true. It was shocking to me to find a character in one of our most beloved fairy tales that had been mocked, ridiculed, and detested, and understand that, “Oh my god, that's me. That's actually the one that resonates with my life, with my experience. She's the perfect epitome.” She's the perfect character to talk about body issues and what pressure for beauty can make you, as well. “Beauty is pain” is such a misogynistic idea, and it's perfect for body horror.

Lea Myren and Emilie Blichfeldt at Sundance 2025 for The Ugly Stepsister

A thing about this movie that I can't fully wrap my brain around is that this is your feature directorial debut, and it's just so incredibly ambitious. For you, where did you find the confidence that you could pull this off, but then also, when it comes to getting a first feature off the ground, where did you find those people who are necessary to make a movie happen that believed in you?

BLICHFELDT: That's a very good question. I was asking myself these questions, as well, developing the script. I'm not in filmmaking just to make any movie. I have stories that I want to tell, and that's why in movies. I've always longed to find this idea that would be the perfect place in between my free artistic expression and a commercial or international potential to reach out to an audience. That's such a big deal for me. That's what I want to do.

When I found this idea, I was in film school. I had no idea how to crack this idea open and really get into the depths of making it into a great feature, but I knew this was my mission. I was questioning if anyone would ever give me the money to do it, but I decided quite early, “This is what I want to do. If I can't make this movie, I won't make movies.” So, for five years, I was teaching myself how to write with the help of a lot of great people who believed in the idea and me from the start.

One of my biggest supporters is my script consultant, Pierre Hodgson. He used to be a tutor at the Torino Film Lab, but he now has his own script lab in Brittany, France. He's been there all the way. Thea Hvistendahl, who had Handling the Undead at Sundance last year, is like a sister to me, and we've developed together. So, there have been people believing in me and helping me. Isabella Eklöf, who has also been here with Holiday a few years ago, also met me, and she told me that I had to write it myself because she could really see how important that was. Then I came to the first draft, and my producer, Maria Ekerhovd in Norway, I've been affiliated with her company, and she's a heavy hitter. She works with Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, the biggest talent out of Norway, and I knew if I could get her on the team, I had a chance. She believed in it from the start. After that, the moon, stars, planets have just aligned. Financing was a dream. All the people we asked who were dream partners for head of departments and for acting just showed up. It's just been a dream come true.

Emilie Blichfeldt Is a Playful Visionary to Look Out For

"She's not afraid to go there."

The cast of The Ugly Stepsister at Sundance 2025

Clearly, I think the world of your director, and I think Emilie is going to go on to direct many, many more films. For each of you, can you tell me something about Emilie as an actor's director and a leader on set that you personally appreciated, and you're now excited for even more actors to get to experience on future films?

LEA MYREN: The playfulness. The playing. She's a player. She has this big imagination, and she's not afraid. That's her biggest quality, I think—she's not afraid to go there. She really went there so many times, and as an actress, to be able to play and to go overboard sometimes, only to tone it down, that's such a gift. She's just so courageous. It’s incredible.

BLICHFELDT: Thank you.

THEA SOFIE LOCH NÆSS: She also created this whole universe and this new world, and she was able to because she's such a visionary. It's very visual. She has it all in her head, but she still allows you to be a part of it and then also make it your own so you feel like it's truly a collaboration and everyone gets better. That's the dream. She can put the best people together and make them do their best work.

BLICHFELDT: You're making me blush, guys!

ANE DAHL TORP: I totally agree with what you've said, especially the playfulness. She's also very clear when we don't have time to go crazy playing more. She draws a line and says, “Oh, no. Not now,” which is also great and necessary. [Laughs]

BLICHFELDT: Thank you so much.

I’ll go back to the idea of fearlessness as it applies to the three of you, because this movie does not work without a core ensemble that is willing to really go there with these characters. For each of you, which moment on set demanded the most fearlessness, and where did you find the courage to do whatever that moment called for?

MYREN: All the body horror is crazy to get to play. I think that, mixed with getting the emotional part right, was the most challenging for me. I don't want to spoil anything, but the body horror at the end took a lot of physical strength and restraint. Also, with all these prosthetic things and all the techniques we did to make it happen, I had a lot of stuff in my mouth. On top of that, being Elvira, experiencing these ups and downs was the most challenging for me.

TORP: Maybe there's a moment I wish I had been more fearful because I almost regret it now. [Laughs] It's my last shot. I had so much fun doing it. I won't say what it is, but now, when I saw the film, I was like, “Oh my god, that's my last shot? My kids are going to see this!” So now I'm really fearful, but not in the making, thanks to Emilie.

LOCH NÆSS: For me, honestly, I felt like every scene was demanding in that kind of fearlessness because my own insecurity couldn't really be present because Cinderella is so comfortable and self-assured, and she owns it. Then Thea wanted to come in and say, “No, no, no, you're not perfect. You're not good enough,” and Emilie was very good at, you know, she sees me, truly. It feels like the first time someone has really seen the struggles or thoughts or the stupid brain inside these heads, but also was like, “But go through it. Push through it. Don't let those stupid thoughts put you down.” And that's so hard. So, for me, it was not the physical body; it was the mental work.

'The Ugly Stepsister' Questions "What Is Beauty?"

“I love all of me, so you're welcome.”

Emilie Blichfeldt at Sundance 2025 for The Ugly Stepsister

I mean this as the highest compliment — I asked this question when I covered The Substance at TIFF 2024, and I think the ways that your movie reminds me of that exceptional work is just perfection. It makes me so happy for body horror that is challenging these ridiculous expectations we put on the female body. This is a little personal, so if you don't want to answer, I do respect that, but can you each give me an example of something about yourself that someone else out there said, “That's wrong. It shouldn't be that way,” and ultimately you came to the conclusion, “Fuck it. No. That is me, and that makes it right?”

BLICHFELDT: Obviously, Elvira is a part of me, and I've lived in a body that I did not like or enjoy or think was worthy of love, ultimately. As a young girl, I was lucky enough to find feminism and challenge myself because I was deep into a body dysmorphic gaze on my own body. I was very, very much ashamed of my body hair, especially [because] I have a deep voice, big feet, and I’m quite tall, and this body hair was looked upon as something quite masculine. I was very, very afraid of presenting more masculine than feminine. What I did to cure myself, I went so far as to say that I'd rather be a virgin for the rest of my life—to be personal—and accept my body than try to make my body into something it is not and be deeply miserable. So, when I was 21, I stopped shaving, and I haven't shaved since. It was such a challenging thing to do for myself, to look at my body and accept it for just what it is. And I'm so happy I did that, and I have so much more self-love to this day.

MYREN: I just see myself so much in what Amelia says. I also was called hairy as a kid, and I also stopped shaving because it hurt me. It was itching. It was making me feel worse shaving because it was taking away a natural part of myself, and so I also stopped shaving. In recent years, I've struggled, also, with this balance between femininity and masculinity because I feel very much masculine, but I have some feminine parts of myself that I really also love and want to embrace. Doing active choices, for example, stopping shaving and also just talking openly about feminism, about body hair, about how I have big muscles, for example, to embrace those and not be ashamed of them has been a part of my journey.

LOCH NÆSS: I feel like I'm still on Emilie’s journey in trying to accept your body for what it is and that it's perfect in its own way. But also, especially in this industry and social media, when there's a constant comparison, and what you compare yourself to is often not real. As we see in our film where you have a tapeworm, we have other substances today that people use. So, it's very hard. What is reality? What am I comparing myself to, and why? It does not matter. I'm still working on it, but this movie and this experience definitely helped.

Thea Sofie Loch Næss at Sundance 2025 for The Ugly Stepsister

TORP: For me, I feel like demanding that you must love yourself, everything about your body or your face or your looks, that's too much to ask. So, my aim is to accept it in a way, and also then, getting older, you can do something, or you can just get old and maybe even ugly and go along with that! [Laughs] I mean, just accept it.

BLICHFELDT: But I also hope this movie will inspire people to reflect upon, “What is beauty? What do you think is ugly? Where does beauty come from?” I know for a fact I got a boyfriend after I stopped shaving, and it's one of the most sexy parts about me for my boyfriend because it's such a courageous and self-accepting gesture that says, “I love all of me, so you're welcome.” And that's quite sexy—I've heard from him, at least. [Laughs]

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Custom image of The Substance stars and director at TIFF

The Prosthetics in Demi Moore's Body Horror 'The Substance' Rival John Carpenter's 'The Thing'

Moore, Margaret Qualley & Coralie Fargeat discuss how this violent body horror combats the beauty standards of society with rage and prosthetics.

It breaks my heart that I have to let you all go soon. I am going to end on one group question that some of the folks behind the scenes will like because it was inspired by an interview I did at Fantastic Fest for a movie called The Role of Jenny Penn, which comes out soon — check that movie out as well. It’s also a horror movie, and during that interview, their director was telling me how happy it made him to see his lead actors be so joyful on set, even though they're making a scary movie. For each of you, can you recall the single moment of making The Ugly Stepsister that brought you the most joy as an artist?

TORP: Maybe it was watching a scene that's deleted now.

BLICHFELDT: It's out there somewhere.

TORP: Okay, keep your eyes open for Elvira playing the piano.

BLICHFELDT: It's a legendary scene. It didn't make the cut, but it’s a very good scene.

One day, we'll get deleted scenes.

MYREN: I don't know. It's such a hard question because I feel like the whole period of filming feels like a big void of just every feeling you can experience. But I think just the first few days getting into the character, finding the way everything worked, was my realization of what we were making and this gratefulness that I got picked and I got to experience this great film with these beautiful women.

I do want to emphasize this because I haven't said it yet, but it’s your first feature as well. I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I am that this is you jumping into this realm feet first for the first time. It really is something special.

MYREN: Thank you. Thank you so much.

Lea Myren at Sundance 2025 for The Ugly Stepsister

LOCH NÆSS: It's very hard because every day is magical and hard and vulnerable, but I think also, the first day we had a scene together in Cinderella's bedroom, and we're in these gowns and costumes, and you've been thinking about it for so long, and suddenly it's real. “We're here. We're doing it. Who knows what's going to happen, but we're here! We made it.”

BLICHFELDT: So many favorite moments, but I have one scene where all of these are in, and they're all great in it. It's when Rebekka, Ane's character, comes home with a surprise after the ball. We were so pressed for time, but at that point, we had developed such confidence and a great relationship together that I was able to tell them, “We have two takes each way. Let's go.” And they just brought it. Then I was able to just go in, and I think that scene is just so funny. And writing it, I was like, “How will this ever translate into cinema?” The timing, the acting, the drama, the humor—for me, it's one of my favorite moments in the movie.

Special thanks to our 2025 partners at Sundance including presenting partner Rendezvous Capital and supporting partners Sommsation, The Wine Company, Hendrick’s Gin, neaū water, and Roxstar Entertainment.