The Ugly Stepsister(2025)
2025 · Emilie Blichfeldt · 109 min
In a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a brutal business, Elvira battles to compete with her incredibly beautiful stepsister, Agnes, and she will go to any length to catch the Prince’s eye.
Horror · Comedy · Drama
7.31.3k votes
TMDB score
4/5
Intensity
4/5
Gore
4/5
Stays with you
How The Ugly Stepsister scares
The Ugly Stepsister turns a classic fairy tale into something squirming and painful, using body horror to show what people put themselves through to be seen as beautiful. The scares come less from shocks and more from watching bodies get cut, starved, and reshaped, building a steady sense of discomfort rather than jolts. It mixes dark, biting humor with scenes that are genuinely hard to watch, so the tone swings between darkly funny and stomach-turning. This is for viewers who like their horror smart, satirical, and willing to sit in real physical squirm rather than deliver cheap scares.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, The Ugly Stepsister rates psychological 4/5, visceral 4/5, gore 4/5, lingering effect 4/5, and overall intensity 4/5.
- Psychological: 4 of 5
- Visceral: 4 of 5
- Gore: 4 of 5
- Lingering: 4 of 5
- Intensity: 4 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 15 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 85 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 65 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
Starts as a darkly funny fairy-tale setup that slowly tightens, then lurches into increasingly grueling, squirm-inducing peaks before a slightly softer landing.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 3.
How scary is The Ugly Stepsister?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, The Ugly Stepsister rates 4/5 — one of the more punishing watches in the catalog, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. It works on both fronts, unsettling the mind while going for the body. Expect it to be heavy on gore and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
Watched it? Sign in to confirm whether this profile fits.
