Cruella – Movie Review
ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nominations – V (Julia Vernon, Makeup & Hairstyling)
Director: Craig Gillespie
Writer: Dana Fox, Tony McNamara (Screenplay)
Writer: Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel, Steve Zissis (Story)
Cast
- Emma Stone (Poor Things)
- Emma Thompson (Love Actually)
- Joel Fry (Bank of Dave)
- Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell)
- John McCrea (Femme)
Plot: A live-action prequel feature film following a young Cruella de Vil.
Runtime: 2 Hours 14 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Cruella starts when a young Estella sees her mother killed in a tragic accident. She believes it was her fault for breaking her mother’s rules and ends up running away to London. Estella makes friends with two small-time thieves Horace and Jasper.
Years later, Estella (Stone), Jasper (Fry) and Horace (Hauser) work plenty of cons around the city. However, when Estella impresses The Baroness (Thompson), she gets close to her, only to learn a shocking secret about her mother’s death. Now, Estella looks to take revenge on the person who took everything from her.
Verdict on Cruella
Cruella is a crime comedy movie following the early life of Cruella de Vil. It follows her tragic backstory and growing up with a couple of small-time thieves, before getting her first taste of the ruthless nature of the most famous members of the industry.
At a time when we are getting prequels to villains, this one seems to miss the mark. It tries to make us sympathise with Cruella because of what happened to her, but in reality, there is next to nothing that could make us care about her. However, hard the film tries, the later actions will always be unforgivable. The Emmas are both great in their roles, but it is nearly impossible to care about the characters involved.
Where to Watch
JustWatch
Final Thoughts – Cruella is a prequel which makes no sense.
