Dalmatian Fur is not in This Season

Introduction

Cruella is a 2021 movie starring Emma Stone and Emma Thompson and is the origin story of Cruella De Vil, a famous Disney villain who debuted in 101 dalmatians back in 1961.

After watching some of the other live-action remakes and villainous origin stories like Maleficent that Disney has been regurgitating of late, I was expecting to hate this film. However, the combined effort of the Emmas’ performances and the over-the-top rivalry between the two characters just made me hunger for more.

Setting and Plot

Cruella’s narrative is set in London during the 70s, where Estella, a promising young woman, fends for herself and her gang of street urchins by planning heists and working as a maid in a boutique clothes shop run by the Baroness. Estella one day drunkenly redesigns a mannequin, angering her boss, but is saved in a stroke of luck when the Baroness enters the shop and recognises her talent.

Estella then gets a job as the Baroness’ apprentice and quickly moves up the ranks to become her most tolerated assistant (it can’t be said that the Baroness actually likes any of her employees). However, everything goes downhill as Estella notices her deceased mother’s necklace around the Baroness’ neck, leaving her with no choice but to steal what is rightfully hers. To do that, she disguises herself as Cruella, a dark and determined character who is an up-and-coming super fashion Diva. She wears the disguise as a mask to take revenge on the Baroness and retrieve her mother’s necklace.

The film’s primary themes are a battle between nature and nurture. The film’s introduction shows that Estella has always had a more twisted side to her but had to learn how to keep it in check with the help of her Mother. After her mother’s death, Estella completely abandons her Cruella personality. A strange twist to a film like this one is that it completely omits her transformation into Cruella. Normally, in these sort of films, the hero accepts their role in their journey, yet the film does not give that sense of catharsis.

Cruella does have its bizarre(if not stupid) moments, with director Craig Gillespie deciding to take a fair bit of tonal inspiration from the Batman franchise and, for some reason, the punk rock genre. One moment that raises an eyebrow is the ridiculousness of her mother’s death, which is so weird, we are not going to spoil it for you so you can watch it yourself.

Character and Performances

Despite previous adaptions primarily presenting her as a maniac, her more insidious characteristics have been toned down for the sake of the movie. It does give more weight to other attributes within her personality, like her narcissism and creativity, which she shows off constantly. There are instances in the film where the writers toy with the idea of pushing her character over the edge but reel her in before she does anything too nefarious.

Emma Stone’s titular role bears many similarities to the more mischievous personalities of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad and Carey Mulligan‘s Cassie from Promising Young Woman. Yet, unlike Harley Quinn, Stone’s character prefers to mess with her foes psychology through a combination of extravagant events and public humiliation. These over-the-top performances fall in place with Cruella’s more narcissistic traits, giving us something new yet familiar at the same time.

Throughout the film, Cruella’s personality constantly shifts around on the morality spectrum, at times teasing her more bloody lusty nature, but she never transforms into the monster from 101 Dalmatians. Many of her original traits were passed over to the Baroness’ character making her viler human being overall.

It is difficult to root for a character like Cruella, whose whole shtick is skinning litters of puppies, but Emma Thompson does her best to transform herself into the absolute bitch that is the Baroness. The Baroness plays as the perfect foil to this alternate take on our protagonist, by presenting the former Disney villain with a dark reflection of what she can potentially transform into.

The dynamic between Cruella and her gang of thieves is a bit different in this adaption. Her crew is made up of a group of childhood friends and like-minded individuals inspired by her rebellious personality and sheer genius. However, as Estella, she treats her crew as friends and would go out of the way to protect them, yet after her transformation into the more narcissistic Cruella she begins treating them like henchmen, similarly to her original incarnation.

Her two closest friends, Horace and Jasper, assist her throughout her crusade and function as her family unit throughout the film. Jasper, portrayed by Joel Fry, is the taller and more intellectual one of the pair who does chastise Cruella for the horrible treatment she’s been giving them. Paul Walter Hauser‘s character was the more comical of the duo, who came across as a bit absent-minded.

It is difficult to imagine these two characters eventually agreeing with Cruella that the best course of action to improve her career is to murder 101 puppies. As friends, all they want is what they think is best for her. They function as Cruella’s anchor, giving her the semblance of care and humility, she needs to carry on.

Sounds and Music

For the music, Disney spared no expense in delivering an excellent soundtrack to compliment this movie’s setting. They used a combination of licensed works such as One Way or Another from Blondie and These Boots are Made for Walkin by Nancy Sinatra, along with their own original tunes. They even managed to sneak her original theme from 101 Dalmations into the film.

Conclusion

Disney, take note of this film because Cruella is how you do a live-action version of a villain. While the character’s more vicious qualities were removed to make her into a more likeable person, Emma Stone managed to sell these changes with a powerful performance as the titular character. The film is an alternative representation of the character made for modern audiences, but unlike other live-action movies of Disney’s properties Cruella comes off as fun and genuinely new.

Cruella comes across as a combination of different movies, ranging from The Devil Wears Prada to something that came out of the Ocean’s franchise. Yet, everything manages to meld well together into a coherent narrative. If you like the films that I have mentioned, then Cruella is right up your alley.