The Ugly Stepsister: The upcoming horror comedy gets a release date, and here's what we know about the much-anticipated Cinderella-inspired film

The Ugly Stepsister (Original title: Den stygge stesøsteren), a standout film from the Sundance Film Festival, will be released in the US theaters on April 18, 2025. It's a Norwegian film that combines the genre elements of horror and comedy.

The film marks Emilie Blichfeldt's directorial debut. She has also written the script inspired by the 1812 Grimm Brothers tale of Cinderella. It reframes this known fairy tale from the step-sister's perspective and shows her unrelenting pursuit of desirability and societal acceptance.

Lea Myren leads the cast, which also includes Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Flo Fagerli, Ane Dahl Torp, Malte Gårdinger, and Isac Calmroth. Memento holds the film's international sales rights while Shudder, AMC's streaming platform, has secured its streaming rights.

The Ugly Stepsister is another body horror film, coming out on the heels of Coralie Fargeat's The Substance. Blichfeldt's film uses a satirical lens to shed light on societal beauty standards for women and often uses practical effects and grotesque elements to offer a similarly visceral experience. However, Blichfeldt ensured that these elements serve a purpose. She told EuroNews,

"I didn’t want there to be gore for the sake of it. The practical effects needed to hold ideas and metaphors, and not just be there for shock value."

During another interview, Blichfeldt mentioned that her hope from this film was

"to provoke both empathy and discomfort and inspire my audience to reflect upon their perceptions of, and relationship to, beauty.”

When will The Ugly Stepsister be released? Release date details explored

The Ugly Stepsister debuted at the Midnight Section at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025, ahead of its Berlinale premiere in February. After a successful festival run, the film was released in the Norwegian theaters in March.

The film will soon have its theatrical run in the United States, courtesy of IFC Films and Shudder. It will be out in the US theaters from April 18. At the time of this article's publishing, a streaming release date has not been announced yet.

What is the plot of The Ugly Stepsister?

The Ugly Stepsister offers a twisted version of Cinderella's fairy tale as it centers around the stepsister. This feminist film follows Elvira (Lea Myren), who uses extreme measures to reach the social status of her stepsister Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) while fighting her insecurities.

Its official synopsis reads,

"Elvira will go to any lengths to compete with her insanely beautiful stepsister, the enchanting Agnes, and is willing to use blood, sweat, and tears to conquer the prince’s heart. In a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira fights tooth and nail to become the belle of the ball. A sinister twist on the classic Cinderella story."

While speaking with EuroNews, writer-director Emilie Blichfeldt revealed why she focused on the step-sister's perspective.

"Most of us end up like the stepsisters: cutting off our toes to try to fit the shoe! In real life, most of us are them - doing insane stuff to try to change ourselves to be Cinderella. But we have no sympathy for those characters, and I think that'svery interesting."

Sources say that this body-horror film, stylistically inspired by the likes of director David Cronenberg, received intense reactions during its film festival screenings.