{"id":1136316,"date":"2026-02-04T20:43:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=532101"},"modified":"2026-02-04T20:43:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:43:55","slug":"the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"Image: The Berlin International Film Festival\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg\" \/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\"><sup><em>This review of <\/em>The Ugly Stepsister<em> comes from its screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival. It will be updated for the movie\u2019s American release.<\/em><\/sup><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The broad strokes of Emilie Blichfeldt\u2019s feature debut, <em>Den Stygge Stes\u00f8steren <\/em>(or <em>The Ugly Stepsister<\/em>), will be familiar to most viewers. There\u2019s a fancy ball and an opportunity to meet a charming prince. There\u2019s a lost glass slipper belonging to a woebegone waif, who becomes magically regal for one evening. And of course, there are her \u201cugly\u201d stepsisters, who are jealous of her growing importance. In all but name, it\u2019s <em>Cinderella<\/em>, the 19th-century Grimm fairy tale <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/22662967\/best-cinderella-movies-adaptation-disney-musical\">adapted for film and TV over and over in ever-changing forms<\/a>, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/century-of-disney\/23843515\/cinderella-restoration-4k-disney-plus\">via the 1950 Disney animated classic<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">But Blichfeldt\u2019s Norwegian farce leans into the story\u2019s most unsavory aspects, turning them into a wildly visceral body-horror parable about beauty standards, deep self-loathing, and the lengths one teenager will go to just to fit into her ballgown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Best Picture nominee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/movies\/455942\/substance-director-interview-branding-design\"><em>The Substance<\/em><\/a> has likely opened the door to some previously averse viewers giving horror a chance, and they\u2019re all the better for it. Coralie Fargeat\u2019s acclaimed comedy (a more malformed movie than Blichfeldt\u2019s) satirizes the limiting images of women propagated and encouraged by modern Hollywood. But <em>The Ugly Stepsister<\/em> goes further back in time, to stories that have long since infiltrated common understanding through cultural osmosis.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Prototypical <em>Cinderella<\/em> stories date back to Ancient Greece \u2014 like <a href=\"https:\/\/mrsamystevens.weebly.com\/uploads\/1\/9\/1\/5\/19157797\/egyptian_cinder.pdf\">the tale of Rhodopis<\/a>, a Greek slave girl identified by her sandals, who marries the king of Egypt \u2014 and they\u2019ve since come to share common DNA with many 20th-century Disney princesses, for whom <a href=\"https:\/\/thedissolve.com\/features\/exposition\/958-disneys-new-cinderella-emphasizes-the-fairy-tales-\/\">grace and beauty are the ultimate virtues<\/a>. The latter may not be a pressing concern for a modern filmmaker like Blichfeldt, but it makes for a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek framework, which she wields to tell a story about self-mutilation used to adhere to modern capitalistic standards and beauty practices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The frame is often awash in a hypnotic haze, and the soundtrack is buoyed by the distinctly 1980s sounds of dreamlike synths, yanking the movie out of time \u2014&nbsp;and making it essentially timeless. Its story follows Elvira (Lea Myren), a frumpy 19th-century brunette whose scheming stepmother Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) marries the ailing father of the blond, blue-eyed, conventionally attractive Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch N\u00e6ss), the story\u2019s Cinderella stand-in. Both parents believe they\u2019re marrying into money, a dual deception that only comes to light once Agnes\u2019 father dies, prompting Rebekka to figure out how best to doll up her daughters in time for the prince\u2019s ball.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Learning to be prim and proper is a much shorter journey for the grieving Agnes, but her attraction to a local stable boy disqualifies her from partaking in the prince\u2019s courtship rituals, for reasons both classist and deeply misogynistic. The entire premise of the ball is sexual and matrimonial in nature, but speaking these ideas out loud (or, God forbid, acting on sexual attraction) is a major societal no-go. This double standard leaves Elvira to shoulder Rebekka\u2019s desperate hopes and dreams, forcing her to walk a careful line between recognizing her own adolescent libido \u2014 in a particularly sweet and funny scene, she\u2019s brought to tears by the sight of a man\u2019s toned buttocks! \u2014 and keeping a tight lid on her desires.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Myren is a notably pretty actress, and the trope of casting conventionally attractive women as characters deemed \u201cugly\u201d \u2014 usually because of an impending makeover scene \u2014 isn\u2019t lost on Blichfeldt. Where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/reviews\/23799502\/barbie-movie-review-margot-robbie-ryan-gosling\">Greta Gerwig\u2019s <em>Barbie<\/em><\/a> hung a lampshade on the idea (a fleeting, joking gesture), <em>The Ugly Stepsister<\/em> makes it a key part of its text, and Myren leans into it with her performance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Her conception of Elvira is cartoonish in a fittingly Disney Channel way. She moves and reacts awkwardly in a modern, terminally online sense, as though the character\u2019s discomforts were fueling an outwardly cringeworthy facade \u2014 which in turn fueled further anxieties, and so on. Each time a bodily imperfection is pointed out (usually by her mother or her etiquette teacher), Elvira practically folds in on herself, growing smaller in the frame, as though she were afraid to take up space. It\u2019s a magnificently true-to-life flourish that captures the feeling of body dysphoria, and how it can hollow out someone\u2019s very being.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">Before long, Rebekka\u2019s insistence that Elvira \u201ctransform\u201d leads to deeply uncomfortable processes, beginning with a cosmetic doctor breaking her nose and placing it in a metallic vise so it gradually changes shape. Myren\u2019s performance makes each step of this methodical makeover both hilarious and agonizing to watch, because on some level, it\u2019s what she wants. (More specifically: It\u2019s what she\u2019s made to want by those around her.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The horrors don\u2019t stop at her nose. While she trains to walk with more poise, Elvira also has long, full eyelashes sewn into her eyelids, and she even swallows an illicitly acquired tapeworm egg, a sublot that builds over months, through uncomfortable gurgles, until it leads to an inevitable extraction. It\u2019s a particularly wince-inducing scene, though not nearly the movie\u2019s most disturbing one. Part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/gutenberg.org\/cache\/epub\/11027\/pg11027-images.html#cinderella\"><em>Grimm\u2019s Fairy Stories<\/em> version of \u201cCinderella\u201d<\/a> involves her stepsisters failing to fit their feet into her dainty glass slipper, and cutting away parts of themselves to try to please and win the prince. But Blichfeldt isn\u2019t content with leaving its tongue-in-cheek terrors to viewers\u2019 imaginations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The film\u2019s watch-through-your-fingers sensation isn\u2019t born from the alienness of body horror \u2014 it\u2019s from the sheer intimacy of having ugliness foisted upon you as an identity, and the complicated process of trying to break free from this suffocating label. Notably, there are few men in the film who insist on Elvira\u2019s metamorphosis. Perhaps the most poignant narrative flourish in <em>The Ugly Stepsister<\/em> is the idea that all its women characters have been trapped by these standards for so long that they understand them intuitively, and are willing to reinforce their invisible walls if it means a chance at getting ahead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">So, even the most painful requests Rebekka makes of Elvira need no explanation. Their reasons feel second nature, as does the notion that Rebekka\u2019s \u201cevil stepmotherhood\u201d stems from the interrelated struggle of being an aging woman with little financial recourse other than to commodify beauty and youth. For these women, the specter of class trickles down generationally, before congealing into body fascism. The result is a smart, wildly fun, and viscerally jolting work, one that becomes downright upsetting when every aspect of its premise comes crashing down on Elvira at once \u2014 or rather, comes bursting forth from within her.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The Ugly Stepsister<em> does not have an American release date yet, but Shudder has acquired it for distribution and plans a release later this year. Polygon will update this review when a release date is set.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/horror\/532101\/the-ugly-stepsister-review-cinderella-horror\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This review of The Ugly Stepsister comes from its screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival. It will be updated for the movie\u2019s American release. The broad strokes of Emilie Blichfeldt\u2019s feature debut, Den Stygge Stes\u00f8steren (or The Ugly Stepsister), will be familiar to most viewers. There\u2019s a fancy ball and an opportunity to meet a charming prince. There\u2019s a lost glass slipper belonging to a woebegone waif, who becomes magically regal for one evening. And of course, there are her \u201cugly\u201d stepsisters, who are jealous of her growing importance. In all but name, it\u2019s Cinderella, the 19th-century Grimm fairy tale adapted for film and TV over and over in ever-changing forms, including via the 1950 Disney animated classic. But Blichfeldt\u2019s Norwegian farce leans into&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1136317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1136316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This review of The Ugly Stepsister comes from its screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival. It will be updated for the movie\u2019s American\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This review of The Ugly Stepsister comes from its screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival. It will be updated for the movie\u2019s American\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-04T20:43:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T20:43:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1175,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Polygon\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-04T20:43:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"This review of The Ugly Stepsister comes from its screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival. It will be updated for the movie\u2019s American\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/02\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":270,\"caption\":\"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror | Arcader News","description":"This review of The Ugly Stepsister comes from its screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival. It will be updated for the movie\u2019s American","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror | Arcader News","og_description":"This review of The Ugly Stepsister comes from its screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival. It will be updated for the movie\u2019s American","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2026-02-04T20:43:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror","datePublished":"2026-02-04T20:43:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/"},"wordCount":1175,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg","articleSection":["Polygon"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/","name":"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-04T20:43:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"This review of The Ugly Stepsister comes from its screenings at the Berlin International Film Festival. It will be updated for the movie\u2019s American","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror.jpg","width":480,"height":270,"caption":"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-ugly-stepsister-finds-a-new-angle-for-cinderella-the-substance-style-body-horror\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Ugly Stepsister finds a new angle for Cinderella: The Substance-style body horror"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1136316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1486349,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1136316\/revisions\/1486349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1136317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1136316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1136316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1136316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}