- Directed by Emilie Blichfeldt
- Written by Emilie Blichfeldt
- Stars Lea Myren, Ane Dahl Torp, Thea Sofie Loch Naess
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 49 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52C0rqyZKhg
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This is a telling of “Cinderella” primarily from the viewpoint of one of the stepsisters. She’s fixated on the handsome prince, and she’s willing to take some extreme steps to become beautiful enough to catch his eye. What she goes through, and puts herself through, starts out horrifying and gets worse as things go along. The body horror is top-notch, and we thought it was very good.
Spoilery Synopsis
We watch as Elvira reads a book of romantic writings and poetry by Prince Julian, and it’s clear she’s smitten with him. Rebekka, Elvira, and her sister, Alma, are moving to her mother’s new husband’s castle. Her new stepsister, Agnes, shows her around. Elvira’s wearing braces, so we know she’s the ugly stepsister. As the happy couple enjoy their wedding cake, old Otto suddenly coughs up blood and dies. Credits roll.
Agnes blames her father’s marriage on Rebekka’s money, but Rebekka married Otto for his money. There are already men there to repossess the castle. Elvira says she can get married to bring in some income, but Rebekka knows that’s not gonna happen, as she’s hopeless. But maybe they can improve her?
In the morning, they get notice that the king and Prince Julian are putting on a ball for the virgins of the countryside. Agnes gets right in, but Elvira gets hers under the name “Elvira von Stepsister.” Elvira wants to marry the prince, and she has fantasies.
The doctor talks about removing Elvira’s braces, but he doesn’t like her nose and wants to fix that. Rebekka offers to pay double… after the ball.
Oh, the surgery. That’s something. Wonking it with a chisel to break her nose and reshape it. Still, she has perfect teeth afterward. Later, we see her in a metal nose-brace. Miss Sophie welcomes them all to finishing school where she gets put in the back of the dance class with the other ugly girls.
Agnes goes to visit her dead father, who still hasn’t been buried yet, and flies are everywhere. Elvira volunteers to do a dance for the class, and the teacher mocks her by saying she has wasted talent. The teacher prefers Agnes, who isn’t so ugly or fat.
The head of the school gives Elvira a tapeworm egg. If she swallows it, she’ll lose weight. Alma says, “You’re sick in the head.” Meanwhile, Agnes makes out with Isak, the stable boy. She loves him but she knows she needs to marry the prince.
Elvira runs into Prince Julian in the woods by accident. He’s pretty mean, and his pals are jerks, and she runs away. On the other hand, she still wants and fantasizes about him. She gets home in time to catch Agnes and Isak banging away in the barn. Elvira tells of course. When Rebekka hears about that, she sends Isak harshly away. She goes crazy over Agnes and puts her to work with the servants.
Three months pass, and Elvira has her metal nose brace removed. It all looks really good under there– and she’s thinner too! She goes back to the plastic surgeon, Dr. Esthetique, who sews on eyelash implants. There’s a great deal of screaming involved. Around this point, she’s taken to calling Agnes “Cinderella.”
Later, both Agnes and Elvira notice that Elvira’s hair is falling out. That night, Rebekka brings in a man with a big crate. “I’m your good fairy,” he says. He has a fancy dress for her in the crate; she’s going to get to dance for the prince after all. The dressmaker is all over Agnes, but Rebekka’s OK with that. Then he notices the hair loss as well, but he’s got a wig for her.
Agnes/Cinderella plans to go to the ball, but Elvira tears up her dress. She cries over her father’s still-rotting corpse until the ghost of her dead mother appears. The father bought a new dress, including shoes. The mother warns that at midnight, her coach will become a pumpkin.
It’s time for the ball, and Elvira arrives looking great. As all the eligible young women are introduced with great ceremony, the men there drool over them and talk lasciviously amongst themselves. She bows in front of the prince, whose jerk friends like her boobs. When she and her two classmates do their dance for him, he’s much more impressed with her. Throughout all this, Elvira’s stomach keeps gurgling; she never took the tapeworm antidote. All the men want to dance with her, but first, Prince Julian gets his dance with her.
In the middle of the dance, Cinderella/Agnes shows up, wearing a veil, and everyone stops to look at her, including the prince, who deserts Elvira for the newcomer. Elvira runs outside and pukes up a bunch of tapeworm eggs. Rebekka says there are lots of other great men out there and to pull herself together. She goes back to the dance, and it’s all pretty horrifying as a number of pretty awful men sweep and bounce her around the dance floor. Rebekka is making herself comfortable with some of the rich guys herself. Cinderella’s veil slips at one point and Elvira sees who the mystery woman is. Until the clock starts to strike midnight and Cinderella runs away, leaving one shoe behind. The prince declares that the woman whose foot fits that shoe will be his new wife.
Elvira goes home and attacks Agnes with a knife. “Give me that shoe!” She gets it, Agnes gets away, but the shoe clearly doesn’t fit. She looks at the butcher knife, knowing how to make her foot smaller. She measures carefully and then cuts off all her toes. She doesn’t swing quite hard enough, so they only come mostly off. Alma and Rebekka come in and say she’s cut the wrong foot. “The prince has the left shoe.” Rebekka picks up the knife and finishes the job so they match. Elvira, passed out, dreams of the prince putting the slipper on her feet, fitting perfectly.
In the morning, she hears the prince arrive outside, and her feet are two bloody messes. She drags herself down the steps, busting her mouth open, breaking her nose, and losing her wig in the process. Agnes walks right past her and goes to the prince. “It fits! I have found my princess!” Elvira hears the whole thing from the floor inside.
Elvira drinks the tapeworm antidote, and it has a really painful effect as it comes up and out. Alma grabs the end of it and pulls. And pulls. And pulls. It all finally comes out in one long gob after the string.
Alma sneaks into her mother’s room and takes her jewelry. Mom pauses fellating one of the men she brought home and watches her go.
“We have to cross the border before it gets dark,” Alma tells her sister. She helps Elvira onto the horse, and they ride off.
After the end credits, we cut back to Otto, who’s still laying dead on the dinner table, now just a rotting skeleton.
Brian’s Commentary
Did they even have braces in this time period? Probably not more than they had plastic surgery/rhinoplasty. They did, in fact, have tapeworms.
It’s essentially “Cinderella” from the point of view of one of the ugly stepsisters.
We get a lot of body horror here, as Elvira gets “improved” by the 19th century surgeon. It’s a little slow-moving, but it’s got things I’ve never seen in a horror film before, so it’s a winner!
Kevin’s Commentary
The science and medical technology are part of the fantasy telling of the tale. What that young woman puts herself through is something else. There are plenty of moments to wince and groan watching. And then have it not matter in the end. I thought it was great, my favorite telling of Cinderella for sure.