A brilliant and refreshing take on the villain origin story, Cruella is a winner. A visual feast supported by a fantastic score that brought you into the time without undermining the tone of the film or turning it into pastiche. In fact, walking the thin line between something new and something painfully derivative is a tension that you feel throughout the whole film. There are moments that hint at The Devil Wears Prada, and moments that hint at a cartoonish heel turn, and moments where you worry the script is about to toss out two acts of character development for the sake of a neat and tidy ending.
None of these worries transpire. And now I find myself wanting to rewatch to see how the movie feels without that kind of weary tension around where the story is taking me.
It goes without saying, I think, that Emma Stone and Emma Thompson deliver powerful performances. But I want to single out Emma Stone for moments of expressive brilliance. My goodness. There is a moment toward the end of the second act that took my breath away. Stone is alone and delivers a line that is meant to serve as a transition from who Cruella is to who Cruella is becoming. For a few beats of silence of silence, we see the conflict play out in mouth twitches, nose wrinkles, and in the tiniest betrayal of tears welling up in her eyes. The silence is broken by a line that seems to come from the Cruella we’ve seen in the film so far.
It was masterful. I am trying hard not to spoil it because I want you to enjoy it.
I delayed watching this movie for longer than I should have. Mostly because of Disney Nostalgia Fatigue. I watched it because I was drawn to Stone and Thompson.
Glad I did.
