de Vil is in the details [Disney’s “Cruella” spoiler-free review]

With any live-action Disney remake film, it’s always interesting to see what they’ll do. For Disney’s “Cruella,” filmmakers decided to take a detailed look at how the puppy-obsessed villain came to be.

But not in a way that we’re probably used to or have seen with Glenn Close’s interpretation of the character or even the original version of Ms. de Vil that inspired it all back with the 1960s animated film.

As Cruella in this 2021 version of her played by Emma Stone said, this is the darkest Disney movie she has seen as it relates to this genre of film. And she isn’t wrong. The themes of murder, narcissim, and jealosy are riddled throughout the film. But it isn’t devoid of its purpose in telling this new backstory of a mean character.

Like any backstory, too, the writers of the movie got to literally invent it all too. By placing Cruella’s life in the 1960s and 1970s, it also leant a hand to being able to tell a contemporized story that kept itself true to the animated film’s setting as well.

(Make sure you stay through the credits for that to all come together too!)

Emma Stone as Cruella

Filmmakers including director Craig Gillespie also wanted the story of Cruella to be more grounded. To do that, he enlisted top talent to create the elaborate sets, costumes, and wigs to aid in that storytelling since Cruella is a person of extravagance as she is mean.

It all comes together through Emma Stone (Cruella) and Emma Thompson’s (The Baroness) acting. The entire movie surrounds how each character’s choices to be mean and why that is the case. Since both actors are notably good at playing good characters, they proved that they can be convincing antagonists through their understanding of embodying a character beyond their actions.

Through it all, “Cruella” is an entertaining film that breaks new ground when it comes to Disney doing villain movies. We can hope that more of the same “familiar yet foreign” take on their famous characters can be deeply rooted in story and still be able to take creative chances in many areas like production and costume design.

“Cruella” was all the better for it, and maybe – just maybe, we felt for and came to appreciate how evil she is.

“Cruella” debuts in theaters and on

Disney+ with Premier Access on May 28th.

Details (from IMDB) –

• Runtime: 134 minutes

• Rating: PG-13 for some violence and thematic elements

All reviews are personal opinions and may not reflect the attitudes of other writers for DisneyExaminer.com unless stated otherwise.

These films have been screened prior to the release date for review purposes and therefore are viewed without charge courtesy of The Walt Disney Studios.