Entertainment news and discussion on TalkFuse.
‘Steps’ Review: A Stellar Voice Cast Including Amanda Seyfried, Ali Wong and Bette Midler Gets Stuck in a Tortured Revisionist Fairy Tale
Netflix’s *Steps* reimagines Cinderella by portraying her stepsisters as misunderstood outsiders and centring their bond rather than the traditional romance. The review argues that the film’s tangled story and weak humour make this revision feel lifeless, despite its colourful musical fantasy and prominent cast.
Lilith, voiced by Ali Wong, and Margot, voiced by Stephanie Hsu, move with their mother to a kingdom where they struggle to fit in; Cinderella, voiced by Amanda Seyfried, initially befriends them but later gives in to social pressure. After the sisters are excluded from the Royal Ball, Lilith takes the Fairy Godmother’s wand, but a rival seizes it and uses magic to sway the Prince. Bette Midler voices the Fairy Godmother, while Amy Poehler produced the film.
In short
- *Steps* recasts Cinderella’s stepsisters as misunderstood outsiders.
- Ali Wong, Amanda Seyfried and Bette Midler lead the voice cast.
- The review finds the plot convoluted and the humour weak.
Explained simply
Cinderella is a traditional European fairy tale about a young woman mistreated by her stepfamily who goes to a royal ball with magical help and wins the prince’s attention. Its stepsisters are usually portrayed as rivals, while the story’s focus is Cinderella’s romance and change in fortune.
Steps is an animated musical fantasy that shifts attention to the stepsisters, Lilith and Margot, imagining them as newcomers who struggle to belong. Cinderella is part of their story too, alongside the Fairy Godmother and the prince. The film revisits familiar characters and themes of exclusion, friendship and social pressure through a different point of view.