The Substance meets Cinderella. This Norwegian horror released on Shudder back in January but recently gained traction online for its clever use of body horror. The dark comedy offers director Emilie Blichfeldt’s take on the harsh female beauty standards.
The Ugly Stepsister stars Lea Myren as Elvira, Cinderalla’s ugly stepsister. In this version, Cinderella’s name is Agnes. Similar to the original tale, her father passed away shortly after marrying Elvira’s widowed mother Rebekka. When Rebekka learns that Agnes’ father was penniless, Rebekka decides to marry Elvira off to the prince in hopes to attain riches. The only problem: Elvira isn’t pretty.
Throughout the film, Elvira reads Prince Julian’s poetry collection and fantasizes her life with him. In her fantasies, the prince is irrevocably in love with her and she is conventionally attractive. In reality, Elvira’s mother makes her undergo cosmetic surgeries that will make her conventionally attractive. But unbeknownst to her mother, Elvira swallows a tapeworm egg to lose weight that grows into a grotesque thing, eating her from the inside out.
Beauty Is Pain
Elvira is obsessed with being beautiful and it’s not only for the prince’s affection. Everyone around her looks down on her, even her own mother, for her features. Her confidence depletes and she begins looking at herself the way others see her.
For this reason, Elvira starts to resent Cinderella who’s never had to work for her conventionally attractive looks. Though Cinderella is represented as an antagonist– at least from Elvira’s perspective– she isn’t a villain. She is simply a girl grieving her father, who’s rotting maggot-infested corpse remains unburied, and trying to escape her evil stepmother’s reign. But all Elvira cares about is beauty and doesn’t mind the physical pain that comes with it.
But neither women are villains– the true antagonist in this story are the patriarchal beauty standards. Elvira gets the cosmetic surgery for her nose despite it being painful, because at the end of the day being unattractive is more painful. But it’s important to note that Elvira was never ugly. She was just a teenage girl going through puberty and growing into her face and body.
Body Horror
The film uses cosmetic surgeries to depict the body horror aspects of the story. Elvira only undergoes two surgeries, changing her physical appearance subtly. Yet the scenes are enough to make you wince. But how much of it was accurate? The time period is 19th century Europe where medical tools weren’t as advanced as today. By the 1800s, rhinoplasty had become more common and the procedure involved using the patient’s own skin harvested from their forehead or arm. Elvira can be seen wearing a ‘nose shaper’— which wasn’t invented until the 1920s– a painless, affordable tool and an alternative to surgery.
And what about those false lashes? Well, sewn in lashes were reportedly popular among Parisian women in the mid 1800s. While it was not a mainstream practice, it wasn’t uncommon. As shown in the film, cocaine was used to numb the eyelid area before the procedure. It was painful, but it reflects the desire for longer, fuller lashes that were in fashion during the time— and still today.
But the most gut wrenching scene that everybody talks about is Elvira’s tapeworm. When she swallows a tapeworm egg, it was clear things were going to go downhill from there. It’s the 19th century ozempic. “When Elvira eats the egg, it’s a metaphor for her internalizing that objectifying gaze,” director Blichtfeldt tells The Hollywood Reporter. “That worm inside her eats her up, both metaphorically and physically.” Because of the growing parasite, her appetite has increased and still she’s able to keep the weight off. But due to the lack of nutrients, Elvira’s hair has started to become brittle and fall through her fingers. Still, her determination to achieve beauty remains strong. And though Elvira starts to show signs of abnormality, her mother doesn’t show concern and instead encourages her behavior.
She even helps Elvira cut off her own toes with a meat cleaver to fit her foot inside Cinderella’s slipper. In the end, Cinderella gives her a pitiful look as she realizes the lengths Elvira went through just to look pretty. Blichtfeldt continues, “It’s impossible to fit in, but the longing is so big….But there is only one Cinderella. The rest of us are the ugly stepsister, struggling to fit into the shoe.”
Elvira’s Delusional Fairytale
Throughout the film, we are given a glimpse inside Elvira’s daydreams, giving the story a dreamlike quality and emphasizing her obsession. Within her mind’s made up fantasies, Elvira is beautiful but not from cosmetic surgeries. She is a prettier version of herself, sure, but her looks are attainable and natural. Her hair has its natural brunette color and her body isn’t stuffed into a suffocating corset that cinches her waist. But overtime, her standards of beauty become warped, thanks to her mother’s overbearing greed.
Elvira also grows insecure after the prince’s blunt rejection. As she notices Cinderella’s beauty, her daydreams change, showing a pretty Elvira with blond hair. Instead of despising the prince for his mean spirit, Elvira looks inward and begins to spiral even further.
“I think the big realization I had quite early was that almost all girls are fed this princess fantasy, and this is what you dream — to become a beautiful woman some rich handsome man will choose,” Blichfeldt says about beauty standards. “This is putting our value in our looks, and that’s what you should strive for: to be this beautiful, gracious woman.”
Elvira’s obsession with looks is unfortunately not that far off from most young girl’s goals. Her daydreams are sacred to her and they must become real or else what’s the point? Her infatuation goes beyond the prince, it’s about not being ugly.
In the end, Elvira’s beauty is taken away from her as she’s left with a botched face. When the tapeworm is finally pulled out of her system, Elvira smiles: she is free because she has nothing to lose. In a way, the ending is bittersweet as she is able to live on her own terms now.
