Film Review – The Ugly Stepsister

Writer/director Emilie Blichfeldt makes her feature-length filmmaking debut with “The Ugly Stepsister,” and she proves to be a formidable talent. It’s one thing to utilize the tale of “Cinderella” to inspire a new take on a very old story, but Blichfeldt delivers an original vision for the effort, going the body horror route during this examination of mental illness and fairy tale fixation. The picture is incredibly graphic, but also beguiling as the helmer pieces together the beauty of moviemaking while inspecting a slow unraveling of the eponymous character. “The Ugly Stepsister” is an exceptional presentation of disturbing behavior, and it does something wild with the known tale of romantic rescue, offering exhilarating darkness and prime behavioral displays. It’s extremity done superbly by the production, playing with magic and horror as it endeavors to take “Cinderella” in many surprising directions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com