Cruella (2021) | Film Review

Confession? I’m the girl who always liked the villains better than the princesses. As such, I was giddy Friday night to get the opportunity to recreate my childhood by sitting down with my parents to watch Disney’s new Cruella – the origin story of the famed 101 Dalmatians villain, Cruella de Vil – and figure out what exactly could happen to a woman to make her want to skin a bunch of puppies in order to make a coat.

Featuring Emma Stone in the titular, Cruella answers the questions we didn’t even know we had about this particular villain, like where Cruella gets her signature black and white hairstyle from, how she found her bumbling sidekicks Jasper and Horace, how she came to be a high-end fashion designer, and how she got her name.

The film tracks Estella, a young aspiring fashion designer with black and white locks (born that way) and a mean, bratty, trouble-making alter ego her mother ends up nicknaming Cruella. When she’s kicked out of her primary school in rural England, Estella and her mother head for London in the hopes of starting over, but tragedy strikes before they even get there – in the form of a typical Disney plot device: a dead mother. Estella ends up making her way to London on her own, where she meets street rats Jasper and Horace, and follows them into a life of thievery.

Fast forward 10 years.

Still living with Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) and making her way in the world as a thief, while remaining an aspiring fashion designer, not much seems to have changed – until the opportunity arises to work for her idol, the eccentric fashion icon, Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson). The Baroness takes Estella under her wing, realizing quickly that the young designer shows incredible talent and promise.

As Estella, we see the Emma Stone we know from romantic comedies: slightly awkward and physically comedic, with great facial expressions and always good for a few laughs. As Cruella reemerges throughout the film, we get to see Emma Stone as the woman who won an Oscar for Best Actress. And honestly? She’s a complete and utter joy. Stone takes a renowned villain and gives her a twist of vulnerability, managing to make the crazy in her eyes shine in a fun glimmer instead of overly scary. And in the end, you find yourself sympathizing with a character who likes to make jokes about killing dogs to make a coat.

And then there’s Emma Thompson playing the narcissistic Baroness, alternating between being infuriated by and enchanted with Emma Stone’s Cruella. The Emma Thompson I grew up watching – an actress who excels at playing the idiosyncratic, weird, and slightly crazy. Thompson gives the Baroness the ability to chill a room with just a glance and the skill to terrify a lackey with just a single word. And she gives Emma Stone a run for her money, matching crazy for crazy in a way that brings the film full circle and makes it even more fun.

The film takes place in the 70s, so we have lots of camp to lighten the mood. Add in the excellent physical comedy of Fry and Hauser, the awesome soundtrack, the sly interjections of sarcastic wit from Mark Strong’s small side-role, some really cute puppies… and nothing gets too dark or dangerous. It’s a Disney movie through and through. I mean, look, the movie’s not going to win any awards save for maybe best costume. But it’s joyous, it’s campy, did I mention great costumes, and it does exactly what an origin story is supposed to do by making the villain seem just a little bit more human.

If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to spend 2 hours and 14 minutes (it actually doesn’t seem that long when you watch it) and you love a good Disney effort, dressed to the nines with wondrous performances and amplified by a killer soundtrack, then Cruella is definitely worth checking out.

Although I still haven’t learned why she wants to skin those adorable puppies.

Follow our further discussion on Cruella via this episode of The Hollywood Outsider podcast: