Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
In 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, a young grifter named Estella is determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they are able to build a life for themselves on the London streets. One day, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman, a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute. But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable and revenge-bent Cruella.
Cruella benefits enormously from Emma Stone's magnetic central performance and Emma Thompson's deliciously villainous Baroness, with both actresses elevating the material considerably. The costume design and cinematography are genuinely spectacular, capturing 1970s London punk aesthetics with bold, inventive visual flair. However, the plot is overstuffed and convoluted — the mother twist and revenge arc feel melodramatic and derivative of similar origin-story formulas. The ending, while visually fun, struggles to convincingly bridge Estella to the iconic villain we know, and the tonal balance between quirky comedy and dark revenge thriller never quite settles. Novelty is middling: the punk-fashion aesthetic is distinctive and well-executed, but it remains firmly within the crowded Disney live-action villain-origin-story lane.