Steps Review: Netflix's Alt-Cinderella Is A Fun Ride With Genuine Heart

Though it could have used a bit more ambition in the animation, Steps is a winning, funny family film with a truly moving emotional core. Published Nov 8, 2026, 6:30 PM EST Alex is the Senior Editor of Reviews & Prestige Content, overseeing ScreenRant's film reviews as one of its Rotten Tomatoes-approved critics. After graduating from Brown University with a B.A. in English, he spent a locked-down year in Scotland completing a Master's in Film Studies from the University of Edinburgh, which he hears is a nice, lively city. He now lives in and works from Milan, Italy, conveniently a short train ride from the Venice Film Festival, which he first covered for SR in 2024. With its alternate take on Cinderella, Netflix's Steps is aiming for a very small target. The most successful subversions of the fairy tale genre either lean hard into an impish, self-conscious sense of humor, like Shrek, or find new, sincere ways to access the heartwarming core of these stories, like Frozen. This one, directed by Alyce Tzue and John Ripa, wants to do both. Daring, but tricky: One misstep on that tonal tightrope walk, and what's intended to be charming could quickly become obnoxious. Though Steps is perhaps better at being Frozen than Shrek, the filmmakers get this cocktail right. It's funny, and often in a way that pokes at the fairy tale tropes we know, love, and sometimes roll our eyes at, but because it never loses sight of its emotional center, the magic doesn't dissipate. The movie fundamentally works. It's entertaining, involving, and, when it goes for it, moving. The size of that heart sometimes brushes up against the film's limitations, felt most acutely the further beyond the story's central relationship you go. The expansive imagination that powers the best animation, even from just this year, is missing here. But the impact of that will be felt more in the movie's long-term legacy than in the here-and-now, where it makes for more than just a good time. For family audiences, and especially the girls it's speaking to directly, Steps has the potential to be a meaningful viewing experience. Steps' Fairy Tale Reimagining Is Fun & Familiar To sum this up as Cinderella told from the perspective of the wicked stepsisters would be technically true, but far from the full picture. This story is different in some fundamental ways. First and foremost, of course, the stepsisters aren't wicked, nor is their mother. But they are perceived that way by the society around them, primarily because, in this telling, they are both culturally and racially different – coded as Asian, with their new home in the Kingdom of Alouette filled with white Europeans. Within their home, this difference was no problem; Lilith (Chloe Kuo) and Margot (Luna Hamilton) were initially quite close with Cinderella (Emma Jagger) and her father. But Lilith's dream to belong was shattered when, as they faced humiliation at the hands of local mean girl Priscilla (Sofia Mortera), Cinderella turned her back rather than join them as outcasts. Now, they are grown. Though Margot (Stephanie Hsu) and Cinderella (Amanda Seyfried) seem to get along well, Lilith (Ali Wong), who has adopted a teenage rebel's edge, hardly tolerates her stepsister. When she learns that (unbeknownst to any of them) a Fairy Godmother (Bette Midler) has been giving Cinderella every magical advantage all her life, and has made it so that she can capture the heart of the Prince (Daniel Radcliffe) at the Royal Ball, Lilith is irate. So, she swipes the Godmother's wand, magically crash the party, and gives her oh-so-perfect stepsister a taste of the disadvantages she's faced. This movie could have used a more ambitious touch. This goes very badly. The Fairy Godmother, it turns out, wrote this story in magic long ago, and it failing to come true would have disastrous consequences. By the end of the night, Cinderella's dressed in rags, Margot has been turned into a frog, and Priscilla (Nikki Glaser), who stole the wand from Lilith, has convinced the Prince that she is his glass slipper-wearing true love. If the three sisters can't get the Prince to place the slipper on Cinderella's foot before the clock strikes midnight the next night, everyone's stuck in this nightmare forever. On a pure plot level, the adventure that follows is fun, but also generally familiar. There is a rhythm to animated fairy tale films that Steps is content to adhere to, outside the confines of its central relationship. This goes for the animation itself, as well. Though the film is both pretty and put together well, at the design level, both the characters and the world around them sometimes feel like they aspire to no more than serving their purpose. Consider the contrast with some of this year's animated hits: Hoppers, Forgotten Island, or Wildwood. All have a singular visual quality that makes the worlds of their stories feel unbound. This movie could have used a more ambitious touch. Steps' Heart & Soul Could Go Toe-To-Toe With Any Animated Film This Year And yet, it overcomes its limitations in two key ways, firstly by being very funny. In macro terms, Steps deploys fairy tale tropes skillfully, and the simplicity of its roster of supporting characters comes across as intentionally playing into them. They may feel familiar, but they're never at risk of not working. The dialogue is also often comedic, and successfully so – I laughed out loud on several occasions throughout. This is as much the writing as the casting. Wong and Glaser are professional comedians; Seyfried, Hsu, Radcliffe, Midler, and Peter Dinklage (as Priscilla's psychotic butler) have all shown great comedic timing throughout their careers. They know how to deliver a joke, and they put that knowledge to good use. Seyfried's casting in this role is a real coup. Secondly, the emotional core of this story is handled just right. Despite what you might expect, Steps' title doesn't refer to the two stepsisters – Margot is practically a peripheral figure in the story. Instead, it refers to Lilith and Cinderella, whose strained relationship is the backbone of the film. Tzue and Ripa handle the pain of Lilith's ostracism very delicately, and her rebelliousness is rooted in that pain. When we're shown how someone who believed wholeheartedly in happily-ever-afters is compelled to turn cynical, the movie doesn't feel like it's moving from point A to point B. This part of the story is grounded in real emotion. Lilith harbors so much anger at Cinderella that it blinds her to how much of her stepsister's behavior is also rooted in pain. The film cleverly repurposes her traditional traits: her cleaning is compulsive behavior; she drowns out negative emotion with relentless optimism; and she's closer to her animal friends than the people in her life. Seyfried's casting in this role is a real coup. She is uniquely capable of channeling all these princess-like qualities, lacing them with neurosis and psychological depth, and getting all these layers across with just her voice. Though they may have a concrete goal to accomplish, it's abundantly clear that the real arc of Steps is Lilith and Cinderella growing toward each other, and rediscovering the love that could have been a source of strength for them both through many difficult years. The filmmakers were wise to take this cue from Frozen. Every story decision that furthers this relationship, including the note-perfect way it ultimately resolves, lands with real impact. As pleasant as it is to move through the plotting and laugh along at the jokes, this is the reason to watch Steps, and if the film ends up sticking with you, this will have been why. Steps is available to stream on Netflix from Friday, November 20. Release Date November 20, 2026 Director Alyce Tzue, John Ripa Writers Ava Tramer, James Madejski, Jen Chuck, Dana Schwartz, Felicia Ho Producers Amy Poehler, Jane Hartwell, Kim Lessing Cast