Blending together elements of May, Loisel’s Peter Pan, and Frankenstein, The Ugly Stepsister is at times both brutally horrific and unexpectedly tender. In short, it’s exactly like the fairy tales it emulates to tell a story about body dysphoria and the inhumane industry built around beauty.

Based off the original Brothers Grimm version of Cinderella, The Ugly Stepsister is at its best when it leans into the painfully ridiculous expectations society places on beauty standards. Elvira (Lea Myren), dreams of being a coveted, beloved princess like her sister, yet feels she’s too ugly to ever warrant such desires. Her mother and sister mock her in a way they probably think is gentle ribbing, and Elvira’s insistence on going to the upcoming ball is met with gleeful bemusement.

So, in a first of awful decisions, Elvira meets with the manic surgeon Dr. Estéthique (the film is only as subtle as the fairy tales), and it’s not long before we witness a homegrown rhinoplasty without anesthesia. It only goes downhill from there.

None of this would work without a dedicated leading performance, and the luminous Lea Myren is more than up to the task. No matter what horror is thrown at Elvira, she smiles and grits her teeth, certain that it will all be worth it in the end. Anyone who has ever suffered from body image issues can relate, even as the film spirals into even more outlandish territory.

The Ugly Stepsister is the first feature from Emilie Blichfeldt, but you wouldn’t know it. Sure, it’s a little long, and there’s a lull halfway through the film that didn’t work for me. But I was never bored. I felt like I was in the hands of an assured storyteller who knew exactly here they were taking me. That isn’t a given, and it’s worth celebrating when we see it.

Last year, we got the sublime The Substance, which dealt with similar issues in an even more over-the-top fashion. The Ugly Stepsister is more traditional than its easy comparisons, and in its own way a more daring and successful tale. Blichfeldt has the natural makings of a great satirist, who understands when to torture the audience just a little bit more than is necessary. Whatever she makes next, I’ll be first in line to see.