Cruella (2021)
Director: Craig Gillespie
Screenwriters: Dana Fox, Tony McNamara
Starring: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser
Disney’s recent slate of live-action remakes and reimaginings has become a defining facet of its modern strategy. While many point to 2015’s Cinderella as the beginning of this wave, the studio’s interest in reworking animated classics stretches back further, with productions like Alice in Wonderland testing the commercial potential of familiar properties. Over time, those efforts expanded to include remakes and spinoffs such as The Jungle Book, The Lion King, sequels to established franchises, and more experimental takes like Maleficent—films that retell stories from different perspectives, often focusing on complex antagonists.
Cruella builds on that idea by revisiting the origin of one of Disney’s most notorious villains: Cruella de Vil from the 1961 animated One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The film positions itself as a character study and period piece, set against a vivid 1970s London backdrop and anchored by a high-fashion world that informs Cruella’s emergence as a singularly stylish antagonist.
Craig Gillespie, whose I, Tonya reimagined a controversial real-life figure with surprising empathy, proves a shrewd choice to direct Cruella. Gillespie brings a flair for balancing dark humor with pathos, and Emma Stone, in the title role, frequently carries the film with a charismatic, energetic performance that keeps the narrative moving even when the screenplay falters.
The screenplay, however, is inconsistent. It attempts to map a plausible path from trauma to villainy, offering a clear, simple motive for why Cruella becomes obsessed with Dalmatians, but the execution often feels strained. Key plot developments that are meant to justify her descent into cruelty sometimes read as contrived, and the film occasionally backtracks on those motivations in ways that diminish their impact. As a result, the origin story struggles to cohere into the fully convincing Cruella we recognize from the original animation.
Stylistically, Cruella leans into high-concept moments and bold visual choices. The film’s soundtrack—a mix of period songs and dramatic cues—often hits the right tone and effectively evokes the 1970s setting, though it can feel uneven across the runtime. One memorable sequence finds Cruella staging a series of publicity stunts to Blondie’s “One Way or Another,” a scene that showcases the film at its most irresistible: kinetic, mischievous, and stylish.
Much of the film’s power comes from the interplay between its two lead actresses. Emma Thompson, as the icy and cruel Baroness von Hellman, turns in a scene-stealing performance that elevates scenes she inhabits. Whenever Stone and Thompson share the screen, the movie achieves a heightened intensity, their chemistry driving many of the film’s best moments and underscoring the thematic conflict between ambition, identity, and revenge.
Production design and costume work are among Cruella’s strongest hooks. The film creates striking, memorable visuals that not only evoke the era but also reflect the extravagant world of fashion central to Cruella’s identity. Costume design, in particular, provides a steady stream of inventive looks that serve both storytelling and spectacle—elements likely to draw awards attention. Sets, hair, and makeup work together to frame a cinematic world that is both gritty and glamorous.
Still, the film’s ambition sometimes outstrips its narrative discipline. The screenplay and soundtrack are full of intriguing ideas, but the movie occasionally feels overloaded, piling on visual and thematic flourishes instead of refining a single cohesive throughline. That tendency makes the film uneven: entertaining, imaginative, and brisk, yet short of delivering a fully satisfying origin for a character whose menace in the original cartoon was so straightforward and iconic.
In sum, Cruella is a fresh entry in Disney’s catalog of reimaginings. It offers strong central performances, vivid design, and plenty of entertainment value, even if its storytelling choices don’t always land. For viewers seeking a stylish, pulpy origin story with standout acting and spectacular costumes, Cruella will be a rewarding watch; for those seeking a more rigorous psychological portrait, the film may feel like a missed opportunity.
15/24