The Ugly Stepsister (2025) opens with the widow Rebekka relocating with her two daughters, Elvira and Alma, to the kingdom of Swedlandia, where she marries Otto, an older widower who has a beautiful daughter named Agnes. Rebekka's marriage is motivated by a desire for wealth and social standing, but on the very night of the wedding, Otto violently vomits blood and dies, revealing that he was actually penniless. This devastating discovery plunges the newly blended family into financial uncertainty and social tension. Agnes, proud and haughty, looks down on her stepmother and stepsisters, openly criticizing Rebekka for spending money on superficial beauty treatments for Elvira instead of properly burying her deceased father, whose corpse begins to rot in the house.

Rebekka, desperate to secure a prosperous future, decides to marry off her eldest daughter Elvira to Prince Julian, who is soon to hold a royal ball to choose a bride from among the kingdom's eligible young women. Elvira, dreamy and awkward with braces and an unremarkable appearance, harbors fantasies of winning the prince's affection, often escaping into reveries where he sweeps her away in romantic bliss. However, Rebekka is painfully aware that Elvira's looks fall far short of the conventional standards of beauty, especially when compared to Agnes, who is naturally attractive and favored by society. To transform Elvira into a suitable candidate for the prince, Rebekka subjects her to a series of brutal and primitive cosmetic surgeries performed by the cruel Dr. Esthetique. These procedures include breaking and resetting Elvira's nose, forcibly removing her braces, and stitching fake eyelashes onto her eyelids. In addition, Elvira swallows a tapeworm egg to lose weight, a desperate and dangerous measure that causes her insatiable hunger and severe malnutrition. Her hair begins to fall out in clumps, and she is fitted with a large blonde wig to conceal her deteriorating condition.

Elvira's initial admiration for Agnes gradually turns into bitter resentment as she perceives her stepsister's effortless beauty and talent as an unfair advantage. Agnes is favored by their dance teacher and allowed to stand at the front during lessons, while Elvira is relegated to the back with the less attractive girls. The rivalry intensifies when Elvira discovers Agnes in a secret intimate encounter with Isak, a stableman. Feeling betrayed and jealous, Elvira reports the liaison to Rebekka, who reacts harshly by expelling Isak and demoting Agnes to the status of a servant girl, forcing her to perform menial chores and barring her from attending the royal ball. Agnes becomes a modern-day Cinderella, scorned and humiliated within her own home.

As the royal ball approaches, Elvira's health rapidly declines due to the extreme measures she has endured. Her body weakens from malnutrition, and her hair loss worsens. Despite this, Rebekka remains relentless, pushing Elvira to maintain the illusion of perfection. During a dress fitting, the seller notices Agnes's beauty and makes inappropriate advances toward her, which Agnes rebuffs with disgust. Rebekka coldly instructs Agnes to clean up the mess, further emphasizing the power imbalance and cruelty within the household. Elvira, consumed by jealousy and desperation, destroys Agnes's ball gown to prevent her from attending the event. Meanwhile, Alma, the younger sister, experiences her first menstrual period alone and in fear, unwilling to confide in her mother due to the harsh treatment Elvira has suffered.

On the night of the ball, Elvira initially captures Prince Julian's attention, but his shallow and callous nature soon becomes apparent as he mocks her appearance. His gaze quickly shifts to a mysterious veiled figure who arrives late--Agnes, who has managed to attend despite her demotion. The prince is captivated by Agnes, and Elvira, overwhelmed by the physical toll of her unhealthy choices, vomits up tapeworm eggs in a moment of horror. Both sisters return home after the ball, but the tension escalates when Elvira discovers that Agnes has left behind a slipper, which the prince will use to identify his chosen bride. In a desperate and gruesome attempt to claim the prince's favor, Elvira forces Agnes to hand over the other shoe and tries to fit her feet into the slipper by severing her own toes. Rebekka finds Elvira in the act and sedates her to complete the mutilation, while Alma watches in horror.

The following morning, Elvira, crippled and in agony, hears the trumpets announcing the prince's arrival. She attempts to crawl but falls down a flight of stairs, breaking her nose and chipping a tooth. She realizes that Agnes and the prince have found each other, rendering her sacrifices futile. Defeated and broken, Elvira listens to Alma's plea and takes an antidote that expels the tapeworm from her body, symbolizing her rejection of their mother's oppressive control. The sisters unite and leave Rebekka's household to forge their own paths free from her suffocating expectations. Meanwhile, Rebekka remains oblivious to their rebellion, continuing to pursue romantic interests she met at the ball. In a chilling post-credits scene, Otto's rotting corpse remains undisturbed in the house, a grim reminder of the family's decay and secrets.

Throughout the film, Prince Julian is portrayed as a shallow womanizer, whose charm masks a cruel and mocking personality. His superficiality contrasts sharply with Elvira's desperate longing and Agnes's quiet dignity. The film's tone blends dark fairy tale elements with body horror, emphasizing the brutal physical and psychological costs of conforming to unrealistic beauty standards. Elvira's transformation is marked by graphic and painful procedures, including nose jobs, eyelash implants, and the ingestion of a tapeworm, all overseen by the sinister Dr. Esthetique, whose methods evoke a nightmarish medical cruelty. The narrative explores themes of jealousy, familial betrayal, and the destructive pursuit of perfection, culminating in a tragic yet liberating resolution for the stepsisters.

In sum, The Ugly Stepsister (2025) retells the Cinderella story from the perspective of the overlooked and mistreated stepsister, charting her harrowing journey through physical mutilation, emotional torment, and eventual emancipation. The film's climax and resolution reveal the futility of Elvira's sacrifices and the strength found in sisterly solidarity, as Elvira and Alma break free from their mother's tyrannical ambitions and the toxic environment that sought to define their worth solely by appearance and social status.

At the end of The Ugly Stepsister (2025), Elvira undergoes a final, gruesome transformation to become the perfect bride for the Prince's ball, but the horrific toll on her body and mind culminates in a bloody and tragic climax. Agnes, the stepsister and rival, asserts her own agency and confronts the oppressive forces around her. The Prince remains a distant, unsympathetic figure, and the fates of the main characters reflect the brutal costs of the pursuit of beauty and social status.

The ending unfolds in a series of intense, harrowing scenes:

Elvira, having endured multiple brutal cosmetic surgeries and body modifications--including a broken and reset nose, removal of her braces, fake eyelashes stitched to her eyelids, and swallowing a tapeworm to control her weight--prepares for the Prince's ball under the relentless pressure of her stepmother Rebekka. Her physical condition is deteriorating; her hair falls out, and she hides secret stashes of sweets to combat the starvation imposed by the tapeworm. Despite the pain and horror, Elvira clings to her dream of marrying the Prince, fantasizing about a life of bliss with him.

Meanwhile, Agnes, the natural beauty and the Prince's initial favored choice, faces her own struggles. After her father's death, she is subjected to menial tasks and social shaming due to her affair with the stable boy Isak. However, Agnes receives a vision from her deceased mother, who helps her craft a gown and prepare for the ball, serving as a dark fairy godmother figure. Agnes's arc moves toward reclaiming her agency and challenging the oppressive expectations placed on her.

At the ball, Elvira's transformation is complete but grotesque. The film does not shy away from showing the bloody and painful consequences of her physical alterations. The Prince, portrayed as a repellent and unsympathetic figure, is indifferent to the suffering behind Elvira's appearance. The tension between Elvira and Agnes culminates in a confrontation that highlights their competing desires and the toxic social pressures they endure.

The final scenes reveal the devastating cost of Elvira's pursuit of beauty and acceptance. Her body, ravaged by the surgeries and the tapeworm, cannot sustain the facade any longer. The film closes on a note that underscores the horror of conforming to impossible standards and the cruelty embedded in the fairy tale's traditional narrative.

In terms of character fates:

• Elvira succumbs to the physical and psychological damage inflicted by her transformation, her dream of marrying the Prince ending in tragedy.
• Agnes survives the ordeal with a newfound sense of self-determination, rejecting the imposed roles and expectations.
• Rebekka, the stepmother, remains a driving force behind the cruelty but ultimately fails to secure the social elevation she desires through Elvira.
• The Prince remains a distant, unlikable figure, more a symbol of societal ideals than a real person.

This ending scene-by-scene narrative captures the film's dark, bloody retelling of Cinderella, emphasizing the grotesque costs of beauty and the harsh realities behind fairy tale fantasies.

Yes, the 2025 movie The Ugly Stepsister does have a post-credit scene. It shows a grim and macabre image of Agnes' father still inside the house, not buried and reduced to a skeleton. This reveals that despite Agnes becoming a princess, she has not yet had the chance to bury her father, highlighting a dark undertone to her "happily ever after" ending.

This post-credit scene serves to underscore the morbid reality behind the fairy tale conclusion, contrasting Agnes' royal status with the unresolved tragedy of her father's death. It ties up a final loose end and adds a haunting layer to the story's conclusion.

Elvira undergoes brutal cosmetic procedures including breaking and resetting her nose, having fake eyelashes stitched to her eyelids, and swallowing a tapeworm egg to keep her weight down. She also has her braces removed painfully and wears a large blonde wig to cover hair loss caused by these treatments.

Elvira and Agnes have a tense and competitive relationship. Elvira informs their mother about Agnes's affair with the stable boy, which leads to Agnes being shamed and demoted to a domestic helper, barred from attending the royal ball. Elvira even tears apart Agnes's gown to prevent her from going to the ball, showing how she has become as ruthless as her mother.

Elvira swallows a tapeworm egg to control her weight, but this causes alarming stomach gurgling and eventually leads to severe health issues including insatiable hunger and hair loss. The tapeworm grows inside her, worsening her physical and emotional state, culminating in a disturbing scene where she vomits tapeworm eggs at the ball.

Prince Julian is depicted as a jerk and unlike a traditional prince, eliciting audience dislike. He initially dances with Elvira and seems impressed by her, but quickly deserts her when Cinderella/Agnes arrives at the ball. His friends also behave lewdly, and he ultimately declares he will marry the woman whose foot fits the lost shoe.

The ball is the event where Prince Julian will choose his wife from the kingdom's virgins. Elvira is prepared to attend after her painful transformations, but Cinderella/Agnes arrives mysteriously, capturing the prince's attention. When Cinderella flees at midnight, she leaves behind a shoe, prompting the prince to declare he will marry the woman whose foot fits it, setting the stage for the story's climax.

The movie The Ugly Stepsister (2025) is not family friendly and contains several potentially objectionable or upsetting elements for children or sensitive viewers.

Key content warnings include:

• Severe sexual content and nudity, including graphic scenes with partial nudity, sexual activity, and explicit body focus.
• Severe violence and gore, with disturbing and graphic violent imagery.
• Moderate profanity throughout the film.
• Frightening and intense scenes that may be disturbing.
• Some mild use of alcohol and brief drug references.

These aspects make the film unsuitable for children and sensitive audiences, as it features mature themes and explicit content far beyond typical family or children's fare.