With many notable exceptions, the horror genre has been largely and unfairly shut out of consideration for the Academy Awards. However, the Academy appears to have finally slashed that trend by recognizing multiple acclaimed thrillers for the 2026 Oscars and making the hit vampire flick Sinners the most nominated film of all time with 16 categories. Among the more surprising horror films to appear on the ballot this year is The Ugly Stepsister.
This reinterpretation of Cinderella is so unsettling that it redefines the term “grim fairy tale.” Those among the revered Norwegian import’s slowly developing fanbase would agree that its sole Oscar nomination is well-earned, but they would also say that it deserves much more.
The Ugly Stepsister’s Best Makeup Nomination Is Certainly Justified
Lea Myren in her nose brace in The Ugly StepsisterImage via Marcel Zyskind/Memento Films International / Courtesy of Everett Collection
From writer and director Emilie Blichfeldt, The Ugly Stepsister tells the very familiar story of Disney’s Cinderella, but from the perspective of… well, the ugly stepsister, namely Elvira (Lea Myren). When the chance to achieve great wealth and respect in the form of an invitation to the prince’s ball presents itself, a nasty conflict between Elvira and the prettier Agnes (the story’s “Cinderella,” played by Thea Sofie Loch Næss) brews.
The young woman begins to take drastic measures to make herself into a picturesque beauty fit for the throne. Without giving too much away, her makeover techniques are nightmarishly brutal and easily earn The Ugly Stepsister a place among the best body horror movies in recent memory, as well as comparisons to 2024’s The Substance in both its thematic and visceral properties.
Also similar to Coralie Fargeat’s unhinged masterpiece, the blood-curdling depictions of self-mutilation in pursuit of beautification in The Ugly Stepsister are so astonishingly realistic that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences took note, honoring the film with a nomination for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling. This would initially come as a shock, considering the movie’s major lack of notoriety, but it is hard to imagine it not being recognized with this honor in retrospect.
However, one way that The Ugly Stepsister differs from The Substance is that the latter film, in addition to ultimately taking home the Oscar for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling for Pierre Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli’s brilliant work, received four other Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Demi Moore’s heartbreaking performance and Best Picture. If the Academy was willing to give that horror flick with a strong commentary on vanity a chance at the big categories, why not the next movie that fits that description?
Is The Ugly Stepsister Was Not Nominated for Best International Feature
Lea Myren at the ball in The Ugly StepsisterImage via Memento Films International / Courtesy of Everett Collection
The Ugly Stepsister is not just an awe-inspiring achievement for its makeup, courtesy of Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg. The film is an awe-inspiring achievement in just about every facet imaginable.
The production design feels like a fairy-tale land brought to life in a grounded manner, lending authenticity to its dismal subject matter. The beautiful cinematography adds to this wondrous appeal, invoking the feeling of a dark fantasy flick ripped straight from the 1980s.
The plot, while borrowing from one of the best-known bedtime stories of all time, is brilliantly constructed, tracing Elvira’s virulent desperation to virtually appear as golden as her heart is, only for her homely look to resurface as she loses sight of her inner beauty.
With all of that considered, how is it that this near-perfect cinematic triumph is not included in the 2026 Oscars’ Best International Feature category? Well, the answer to that is actually quite simple: Sentimental Value is nominated in that category this year.
Countries outside the U.S. are permitted to submit only one local production to represent their nation in the Best International Feature category each year, and The Ugly Stepsister‘s homeland of Norway chose Sentimental Value over it. Considering Joachim Trier’s intimate portrait of a show-business family’s estrangement has received glowing reviews and a total of 9 Oscar nominations, including the top prize, the choice makes perfect sense, and most would call it justified. Yet, what is not justified is seeing The Ugly Stepsister’s lead star shut out of the acting categories.
Lea Myren Deserved Best Actress Consideration
One of the most exciting names to appear among the 98th Oscar nominations is Amy Madigan. Her performance as Gladys in Weapons, a dazzling blend of eccentric and sinister, would deserveably earn Zach Cregger’s star-studded, horrifying hit its sole nod this year.
However, the Academy’s choice to honor one of 2025’s best horror movies by recognizing, arguably, its best performance raises a question. Why could The Ugly Stepsister not receive the same treatment?
A great deal of credit for the film’s success is owed to Lea Myren’s performance as Elvira, which is a fiercely demanding role for which she delivers a fearless, multi-layered tour de force that often relies solely on expression. She commands every frame of every scene she appears in, seamlessly reinventing her portrayal with each new development in her character, lending the film a perfectly constructed tracing of Elvira’s internal and external transformation.
It is hard to say who among this year’s Best Actress nominees — which include Emma Stone for her blistering work in Bugonia and Renate Reinsve in the aforementioned Sentimental Value — could be removed to make room for Myren. It is even harder to say if any of them deserve to lose their nomination. If anything, it would have been refreshing to see Myren’s performance in The Ugly Stepsister at least be part of the conversation.
All things considered, to see a horror movie like The Ugly Stepsister — let alone one distributed by the all-horror streaming platform, Shudder — receive any recognition from the Academy is worth celebrating. Attention like this will prevent the overlooked masterwork from falling into obscurity and cement its legacy as one of the best renditions of Cinderella ever, if not simply the most daring.
Release Date
April 18, 2025
Lea Mathilde Skar-Myren
Elvira
Thea Sofie Loch Næss
Agnes
