Cinderella's Stepsister
(The Ugly Stepsister)Concept (Taiwan 1980's - Inspired by Red Candle Games's Devotion)

Trigger Warning: Mentions of Anorexia, Bulimia, Substance Abuse, Manchausen by Proxy, Psychosis, Religious Trauma, Body Horror. Please proceed with caution. SKIP to Moodboard - Environment and Costumes.INCLUDES MEDIUM SPOILERS FROM THE MOVIE "THE UGLY STEPSISTER (2025)"

Storyline Changes from the Original Script

For the concept to fit the inspiration, I've made quite a few changes from the original, diving along the way into mental illness, elements of fantasy, and floral symbolism, while staying true to elements from Devotion that inspired this whole project.

~conflict between personal desires and familial duty and the impact of societal expectations - Elvira does these rituals as a mode of "prayer," destroying her own body in the process. Everything that affected her body was but an illusion of her mental turmoil.
~Dr Estethique: a mentor in spiritual guidance.
~Rebekka- the equivalent of Du Feng Yu in Devotion, encouraging her daughter to "pray" for beauty.
~Alma - the only one unaffected by the harsh rules her mother imposes
~"Cinderella" - distant observer
~Elvira's mutation is in a realm of meditation, but impacts her mental state, seeing and feeling things that aren't there.~Elvira's treatment -> rituals of prayer -> delusions of a changed appearance -> physical symptoms of mental turmoil~The ball - a fancy party on which more people are invited ->
Elvira here hopes to find the love of her life, categorized as her "prince."~The beauty interventions are rituals, all that happens (the broken bridge of her nose, the eyelashes, are in her imagination as manifestations of what she lacks)
The tapeworm doesn't exist; being the manifestation of her mental turmoil (lack of sleep, always hungry, stressed, hair loss)~The ballet classes she takes are all on a big floor of an apartment building, the whole floor rented for said ballet studio.~The estate here is a big apartment (4 rooms apartment)/ a house made out of 4 distinct small houses joined together.~The garden is a park garden near the city hall, most likely where the city hall is located (apartment version)~The armory/chapel is the city hall of the city~Elvira falls and breaks her nose on the stairs leading to her apartment (on floor 4, number associated with bad luck.) In the house, she slips on the 4th step leading to the ground floor.
She is close to getting out of the building when, on the last flight of stairs, she falls and is found by Alma there, lying on the ground.
From the pain, she hallucinated vomiting the tapeworm, here as a metaphor of crashing out, feeling that "the thing" that "possessed" her was finally out in the form of a tapeworm.~In the scene where Elvira and Alma go horseback riding, the horseback ride here will be implied as a long walk on the streets of Taipei.~The outside of the apartment building is beautifully decorated, the interior is more "dirty" and old (where it takes inspiration from Devotion)
~The location where the party takes place is in a more affluent part of the city, at a fancy venue.~Elvira's dreams:
Here everyone wears Ming Dynasty robes -> Han Chinese influence (Kingdom of Tungning 1661-1683)~A more dreamy look/colors/accessories
This is the ideal of Elvira before it's ruined by her mother.~Her mother only thinks about her image being tainted by Elvira, the reason why she makes her pray for a better appearance, as she does not have enough resources to go to an actual doctor.~Elvira's "change" of appearance is also due to mental turmoil and negligence of her needs, starting to also fall into delusions, started by the lack of eating, stress, eating too much, then vomiting it all (anorexia and bulimia), always being on the verge of hunger and feeling bad for eating too much, rarely having moments to eat without judging herself. Due to a lack of nourishment, she is dizzy and feels on the verge of passing out, somehow pushing through until she is exhausted mentally and physically.~In her "praying" for a better appearance, as her mother says, she knows all of it is fake, but she has no choice but to push through it, this triggering her anorexia and bulimia.~Her mother is blinded by devotion to the deity, thinking this will make her daughter more beautiful, as she believes that the prayers actually work (she thinks this way because of her drug abuse and full-on psychosis). Her mother can be, in a way, diagnosed with Munchausen syndrome by proxy.~The "prince's" poems talk about an older period of Taiwan, combined with fantasy.~The prince here is an idea of an untamable figure; he's more of an ideal, which Elvira founds this ideal at the party, and wants to dance with gum until Agnes steals the spotlight.Dr. Estethique also owns an apothecary by day and is a spiritual medium/mentor by night.When Elvira goes to break the bridge of her nose, which is all in the ritual realm, he then proceeds to bandage her and gives her some medicinal herbs, saying that if she keeps the bandage, the nose will transform itself into what the viewer sees (here, in a way kicks in the placebo effect)Mental disorders
Elvira
~Anorexia
~Bulimia
~Delirium/psychosisRebekka
~Munchausen by proxy
~Substance abuse
~PsychosisCostumes:
Elvira
~Dress in her dream sequence (Ming Dynasty inspired)
~The" horse riding" costume
Alma
~Nightgown
~"Horseback riding" costume
Agnes
`The first meeting with Rebekka and her girls
~Mourning costume
Rebekka
~ Wedding costume
~"Ball" costume
Dr. (Mentor) Estethique
~Casual costume (casual clothing-> modern clothing for the '80 Taiwan)
~The "operating" costume (here he is dressed for the following ritual to take place, more traditional clothes and accessories), a spiritual medium (He is also a fraud, but he needs to make some money at least besides his apothecary job)- like mentor hu in devotionMain Locations:
~Forest (fantasy forest - bamboo forest)
~Estate -> dream (a palace, outside, with trees and a small pond in the front, with lotus flowers surrounded by a bamboo forest)
~Garden (Taipei Botanical Garden inspired)
~In the forest (streets in the city)
~Estate ext. (apartment building)
~Estate int. (apartment, floor 4)
~Ballet studio (entire floor rent of an apartment building)
~Armory/chapel (city hall)
~ Dr. Estethique cabinet (apothecary front, shrine for practicing mentorship/spiritual medium in the back -> on a medium busy street, in a corner)
~The ball (party in a rich part of Taipei)

⚫Moodboard - Environment & Costumes (+actors)

⚫Costumes

⚫Flowers and Meanings

Each character has a specific flower associated with them, appearing as a pattern on their clothing, giving them more depth, the meaning of each flower is associated with an action they've done or personality trait they have.Elvira - Jasmine
~associated with amability and cheerfulness
~Elvira's unaffected self. later on a self that is buried under trauma and her mother's expectations, but never dead.Alma - Daisy
~associated with innocence and childhood
~Alma is the only of the daughters that is allowed to still be a child at heart, not affected by the same things Elvira and Agnes go through.Agnes - Angel's Tears
~associated with deep emotional sorrow and unresolved trauma
~Agnes loses her father very early in the story and has to obey the new rules of her stepmother, Rebekka, becoming a servant, while her dad still didn't get a proper burial.Rebekka - Amaryllis
~associated with pride, a heavy plant too powerful to perish under hard conditions
~Rebekka's pride affects Elvira's self-worth, viewing her as an asset to make ends meet and become rich, only benefiting her in the end.Dr. Estethique - Chamomile
~associated with healing properties, helping the body to heal during periods of a prolonged state of mistfortune and hardships.
~Dr. Estethique "heals" Elvira's inner turmoil, but cat't get rid of it, this way deceiving Elvira from her true path of healing what her mother destroyed.

⚫SketchUp - environment (estate ext. - garden)

(foliage, chairs, tables, foods, pillars, hanging ropes, dishes, bowls, and other various objects are imported from the 3D Warehouse; materials such as grass, stone, roofing, etc., can be found under Materials)
The land, pagoda, house, roofs, windows, doors, pathway, and lake are done by me.

⚫Environment Photos