Is This A Disney Film? Cruella (2021) Review

Mark Kermode made a brilliant point in his review of Cruella in that it’s worth considering how easy it could’ve been for the film to “drop the ball” because compared to most reboots and prequels, let alone ones from Disney, Cruella is a lot better than it should be.

Drifting orphan Estella (Emma Stone) aspires to make a name for herself in the fashion world. With the help of a couple of thieves, she makes a living dabbling in crime, honing her fashion skills in the background. Her fashion work attracts the attention of Baroness Von Hellman (Emma Thompson), a prestigious fashion designer. She hires Estella, exposing her to the brutal landscape of the fashion world. What Estella sees and learns forces her to embrace her dark side and eventually become the ruthless and vicious Cruella De Vil.

The Characters

I’m not the biggest Disney fan but I like to think I’m familiar enough with their work to notice something unique among their output. If Cruella De Vil had to have an origin story (and she really didn’t to be honest), then I think it would pretty much be like the one in this film. Her story is a cathartic and liberating one about embracing your id and rebelling against the status quo, which, from what I’ve seen, is an interesting choice of story for Disney to tackle.

With a dream and only a couple of burglars to help her realize it, Estella is hard not to like. The film does a great job of establishing how hopeless her mission is. It’s not just her lack of resources that’s stopping her from entering the fashion scene but her gentleness and warmth. Working for the Baroness, Estella learns to be tough and ambitious. She tries to abandon her former identity but when her work for the Baroness comes into serious conflict with her prior values, the only action Estella can take is to become the very thing her family, boss and society told her to avoid. It’s impossible not to cheer Estella on during this sequence, not only knowing where she’s come from and what she’s gone through but who she’s up against.

The Baroness is a great antagonist. From very early on you know that she’s untouchable. She teaches Estella everything she knows, she has an unshakable belief in the dog-eat-dog nature of the fashion world. She is the mountain Estella has to conquer to get where she wants to be. Above all, she’s an iceberg. You never see all of her at once, a part is always hidden.

Hence you always cheer whenever Estella manages to beat her. It’s the classic David and Goliath scenario, you always gravitate towards the underdog.

This could say more about my rate of exposure to Disney but there were times I forgot that Cruella came from the same studio that gave us the Cinderella remake. If you divorce it from the family-friendly features that share its source material, Cruella works as a standalone drama about a woman’s internal tug-of-war between her identity and career aspirations. But with a few funny bits.

By the way, Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser are magnificent as Horace and Jasper.

Plot Holes and References

I actually had to stop and think about whether I had any issues with Cruella because while I did have them, they were overshadowed by the film’s strengths.

Without getting into spoilers there are a few plot holes in some of the schemes the Baroness and Estella deploy against one another. Questions concerning how one knew this and how the other knew that. They’re not gigantic, they’re more like little gaps that could’ve done with filling in to strengthen the plot’s logic. They’re forgivable flaws.

I was sort of anticipating this when going in but like many recent reboots and prequels, some of the references to the world of 101 Dalmatians are pretty jarring and seem forced. For example, and this isn’t a spoiler, we learn that Estella met Jasper and Horace when they were all children. It’s a bizarre choice that has no purpose other than to introduce Jasper and Horace as soon as the plot can allow. Like I said, I’m not a huge Disney fan but am I wrong for assuming Cruella probably just hired Jasper and Horace when she started to rise to power?

It’s not a masterpiece but it certainly is compared to its cousins (i.e., most live-action Disney remakes). With a great script with two great characters, along with Wrong Turn, Cruella is honestly one of the most pleasant surprises of the year so far. Even if you’re not a big Disney fan, it’s certainly worth considering seeing. I highly recommend it.

I give Cruella a strong 8 out of 10.