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‘The Ugly Stepsister’ Remixes Cinderella With Nauseating Body Horror for a Biting Commentary on Beauty Standards — Sundance
Director Emilie Blichfeldt breaks down her dreamy horror fable "The Ugly Stepsister," which is debuting at Sundance on Thursday.
Beyond historically accurate medical procedures and story elements that never made it into Disney’s cheery 1950 “Cinderella” (which, of course, doesn’t include the stepsisters mutilating their feet, like the Brothers Grimm version), Blichfeldt believed that ratcheting up the body horror was a natural fit to get her message across. Notably, even though Prince Julian is vocal that his search for a bride is limited to virgins, Agnes has a literal roll in the hay early on with a worker on the estate. “The Ugly Stepsister” has its Sundance debut in the middle of a rousing awards campaign for Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance,” another body horror film that satirizes cosmetic surgery and beauty standards.
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