Fairy tales in their earliest conception were equally useful as both forms of entertainment and to pass on moral lessons and reinforce cultural mores. The Ugly Stepsister, a feminist beauty horror film from Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt that both shocked and delighted audiences at its Sundance premiere earlier this year, takes inspiration directly from one of the most beloved fairy tales of all time, Cinderella. While the film more than meets the requirements to entertain its both wickedly funny and deliciously squirm-inducing its the way it upends and interrogates moral lessons and cultural mores that makes it a spectacular piece of art and an exciting debut.Set in the 1800s, the film follows Elvira (Lea Myren), a girl with dreams of being swept off her feet by her very own Prince Charming, or rather, Prince Julian. When her newly destitute family is invited to a ball to woo the royal, both she and her beautiful stepsister Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Nss) become locked in a competition to win the Princes heart and his fortune. While that plot might sound familiar, this tale, unlike in the Disney version, unfolds from Elviras perspective. And unlike Agnes, Elvira doesnt fit neatly into the strict beauty standards set by those around her, so she must be molded, chiseled, starved, and sewn up to meet them, lest she lose her chance at royalty and what she imagines will be a happily ever after. At times its just as grisly as it sounds and Blichfeldt is unflinching in her presentation of the small and myriad grotesqueries involved with cosmetic procedures (the 1800s were the dawn of cosmetic surgery). But there is also a heavy dose of camp with more than a whisper of absurdity that elevates the film out of what would otherwise be a very grim, Grimm tale indeed.The film was born of rage, and it shows. For Blichfeldt, it came in part from her own frustration around gender expression and expectation. I dont want to judge anyone trying to navigate [femininity], you know what being a female or identifying as a female is, and how you do that. I just want us to be free to do it in more ways, and to ask more questions, she tells PRIDE. Im [trying] to make a space where we can choose things more freely.The film is her answer to the old, profoundly misogynistic adage that beauty is pain, and in The Ugly Stepsister thats not a metaphor or philosophic endeavor. Elvira is quite literally in agony in the pursuit of a beauty that she didnt know she needed or lacked until the world told her so, while (most) of those around her clap in delight at both the process and results.The film is all building toward a ball where the girls will not only have the opportunity to parade themselves past the price in gowns, but in a balletic performance as well, which not only shows off Blichfeldts assured and visionary direction but also her own background as a dancer. But before the big night, we spend time with Elvira and Agnes as they train and practice. Leading the preparation are a duo of women, a butch-femme couple, Madam Vanja (Katarzyna Herman) and Sophie von Kronenberg (Cecilia Forss), who together teach the girls choreography and etiquette, sorting the girls by talent and beauty. All the while, both women are rewarding and abetting the increasingly violent things Elvira is enduring in the pursuit of the latter.In a lesser film, these women could be cartoonish in their villainy. After all, in a time and place where women were entirely reliant on men and marriage to access wealth and security, these women have become gatekeepers to that access based around the strict adherence to beauty standards and gender conformity. But Blichfeldt sees them differently. Like everyone else, this duo is trapped in a system of patriarchal rule and have carved out their own way to survive as queer women in this time.For me, this is a film that is a lot about class, Blichfeldt explains. Cinderella, we have this idea that shes from rags to riches, but really, in almost all versions of the fairy tale, she starts as a noblewoman who is put into the kitchen for a while before a prince picks her up. Sophie and Vanja offered the writer-director another way to explore class in the films, she adds. I just got this idea that they should not be married, that they are actually kind of upholding these patriarchal things, but actually theyre doing it to live their own free life, she says.She looked at how sapphics survived in the 1800s, A lot of lesbian women do not have to be forced to marry, they had to find a way to earn a living, and that would be within these very feminine [professions such as] being school teachers.While this duo may have found freedom in careers and love with one another, theyre still complicit in the larger systemic issues. One of the most chilling scenes involves Sophie giving Elvira a gift to enhance her beauty which is horrific but that we wont spoil here while speaking in the coded language of empowerment, coding her harmful advice as changing Elviras outsides to match the true beauty within. That was a very important and very fun scene to write, because I think theres so many influencers and marketers out there that are kind of taking our language, says Blichfeldt.In this way, and so many others, there are equal moments of epiphany and horror in the film. Its darkly funny, naughty, and thought-provoking. Its a clever use of the visual language of common folklore of fairy tales to unpack and unwind our deeply ingrained ideas of beauty and gender, while also presenting a truly entertaining yarn. If The Ugly Stepsister represents what fairy tales are today, that they are opportunities to unlearn harmful ideas and beliefs, to open our minds to possibility, unravel gender, and escape societal constraints while also making us scream with horror and delight thats a happily ever after we can get behind.The Ugly Stepsister is in theaters today. Watch the trailer below.