The Ugly Stepsister18

Directed by Emilie Blichfeldt | Norway | 2025 | 1h 45m | Norwegian w/ English subtitles | Starring Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Ane Dahl Torp, Isac Calmroth, Malte Gårdinger

In a fairy-tale kingdom where beauty is a ruthless currency, Elvira struggles to outshine her impossibly gorgeous stepsister. Desperate to capture the attention of Prince Julian, she’ll go to shocking extremes. This bold reimagining of Cinderella weaves together the dark heart of classic folklore with unsettling body horror, offering a gruesome take on aging, beauty standards, identity, and female autonomy.

Reviews

‘An impressively nasty first feature from Norwegian filmmaker Emilie Blichfeldt, this is a grimmer than Grimm take on Cinderella.’
★★★★
Jacob Oller, The AV Club

 

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We showed The Ugly Stepsister between May 9, 2025 and May 15, 2025.

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What else is on?

Today (Tuesday 3rd March)
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17:30

The Chronology of Water 18
HOH Subtitles / £6 for Members
2h 8m
In the 1980s, a talented swimmer’s dreams are upended, sending her on a journey through love, loss, and self-discovery. Kristen Stewart makes her directorial debut with an intimate, compelling portrait of resilience, creativity, and finding one’s voice through art.

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20:30

Missing Child Videotape 18+
1h 44m | Japanese w/ English subtitles
The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2026
Keita, haunted by his brother Hinata’s mysterious disappearance as a child, receives a VHS tape showing the exact moment he vanished. Against the advice of his psychic friend, he returns to the mountains to find out what exactly happened that day…

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Tomorrow (Wednesday 4th March)
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14:45

Hamlet 15
1h 53m
Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) returns home after his father’s death, and is haunted by the ghosts of revenge. Amid political corruption, family loyalty and moral responsibility collide in this gripping, contemporary re-telling of Shakespeare’s famous tragedy.

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17:30

My Father's Shadow 12A
1h 33m
During Nigeria’s 1993 election crisis, two brothers journey across Lagos with their estranged father, discovering the city’s vastness and political unrest. Told through a child’s eyes, this is a vivid and deeply personal debut from British-Nigerian filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr.

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19:45

Franz Cert-TBC
+ Director Q&A
2h 7m | Czech, German, Yiddish w/ English subtitles
Award-winning director Agnieszka Holland traces Franz Kafka’s life from Prague to Vienna, revealing a writer torn between ordinary life and obsessive creation. One-off preview screening followed by an in-person Q&A with director Agnieszka Holland.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!

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