Oscar-Nominated ‘The Ugly Stepsister’ Sumptuously Reimagines the Cinderella Story

Among the least ballyhoed nominees for this year’s Oscars slipped in under the radar from Norway. Emilie Blichfeldt’s “The Ugly Stepsister” isn’t up for anything flashy — her countryman, Joachim Trier, managed that feat with nine nominations, including Best Picture for “Sentimental Value.” Ms. Blichfeldt’s film has been nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Let’s see if Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg take home gold statuettes for their efforts.“The Ugly Stepsister” has stiff competition in genre-adjacent efforts like Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” and Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” — that is to say, period films that truck in the supernatural. The monsters in Ms. Blichfeldt’s picture aren’t the result of scientific experimentation or lives cursed for eternity; they are venal and vainglorious. Human beings in desperate straits taking extreme measures to achieve dubious ends can be a scary lot.“The Ugly Stepsister” is a consummately crafted picture. Ms. Blichfeldt has clearly been looking at 16th-century Dutch painting as inspiration for the film’s settings–one thinks, especially, of interior scenes by Johannes Vermeer, Pieter de Hooch and Gerard Dou — and she’s worked effectively with cinematographer Marcel Zyskind to replicate their auburn light and softly-stated geometries.Costume designer Manon Rasmussen festoons the proceedings in finery so resplendent that it sometimes borders on camp. This is especially the case with a dance scene in which the participants wear garb that has less to do with 17th-century fashion than with the Depression-era choreographer, Busby Berkeley. Mr. Foldberg’s prosthetics are seamless in their transformations of physiognomy, and visual effects supervisor, Peter Hjort, achieves the same by making untenable situations all too tenable.“The Ugly Stepsister” opened in the States last spring, and is being re-released because of the Oscar nod. The IFC Center will be screening the picture, and it was recently screened at Manhattan’s hub of Nordic culture, Scandinavia House. How did the well-heeled patrons of this august institution react to a “sinister reimagining of the Cinderella story?”Let’s hope they passed on a dinner of smørrebrød and lingonberry spritzer before entering the theater. Ms. Bllichfeldt’s revisionist take on a classic story is hard to stomach in its detailing of how far a young woman will go in order to curry a prince’s favor. A blunt form of cosmetic surgery is employed; as is a weight loss remedy that is a far cry from a workout at the gym or a prescription for Ozempic. The Brothers Grimm didn’t have a hand in writing the original Cinderella, but the extremes in which they elaborated on their moral lessons are close kin.“The Ugly Stepsister” bears comparison with “The Substance” (2024), Coralie Fargeat’s post-feminist takedown of consumerism, ageism, and the misogyny that can be fostered by both. That movie went over the top in ways that transformed political animus into puritanical excess. “The Ugly Stepsister” is a more cogent black comedy because fairy tales are, at their core, inherently moralistic, and its mis en scène is more weighted by historical context. Ms. Blichfeldt has made a movie that is gruesome and stunning. Put her down as a director worth keeping an eye on.

Oscar-Nominated ‘The Ugly Stepsister’ Sumptuously Reimagines the Cinderella Story

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