*Premise spoilers.*
*Note: I’ll be referring to the main character as both Estella and Cruella here.*
I remember seeing the trailers before this movie came out and thinking it had potential. I liked the punk aesthetic, and Emma Stone and Emma Thompson are always good. But I only went to a few movies in 2021, and Cruella didn’t make the cut for me—I didn’t feel like springing for the premium rental on Disney+, either. And after that, it just fell off my radar. When I saw it on Joel Fry’s filmography, though, I was pleased to have a good reason to finally catch up on it, even if I wasn’t sure how it’d rate as a film for him. Let’s get into it!
When her mother is killed, young Estella—scrappy renegade, aspiring fashion designer—runs away to London, where she falls in with a couple young pickpockets. As an adult, Estella is good at grifting but longs to design more than just disguises. When she gets herself noticed by the Baroness, a premier designer, Estella jumps at the opportunity. But working for the self-involved, demanding Baroness brings an old grudge to light, and with it, the “crueller” parts of her personality that her mother had always urged her to suppress.
Okay, just off the bat: making a Cruella de Vil movie and giving her the origin story “my mother was killed by dalmatians” is absolutely ridiculous. Flat-out bonkers. Weirdly, the movie kind of makes it work within the full context of the story, but when you stop and think about it in isolation, it’s absurd. It’s like a parody of a villain origin story. No two ways around that.
But as I said, in the grand scheme of things, they sort of make it work? Because on the whole, I really like this movie, and I’m able to engage with the dalmatians without dwelling on how silly their pivotal opening scene is. So the film accomplishes something impressive there.
As with Maleficent, this isn’t so much of a villain origin as a villain reinvention. Despite familiar characters and certain elements being slid into place by the end of the film, I can’t quite imagine this Estella/Cruella becoming the full-on baddie she is in One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The nods to the original film are mostly just nods, with the primary focus on a story that’s entirely its own.
After spending years, not just suppressing her crueller instincts, but also hiding her distinctive black-and-white hair, Estella is tired of always trying to be “good.” It never seems to last long, and the other side of her always bursts out at the most inopportune moments. But Estella’s vendetta against the baroness unlocks something inside her, and for the first time, she gives herself completely over to the part of her that wants to be bad. In doing so, she’s flamboyant, wickedly creative, and provocatively fashionable. She shows her ingenuity in her designs, of course, but also in the meticulous ways she’s setting out to ruin the Baroness’s life.
A classic revenge tale typically goes one of two ways: either it’s a badass wish fulfillment fantasy, or it’s a story of someone getting increasingly consumed by their pursuit of vengeance, letting every possible good thing in their life fall by the wayside for something that won’t actually bring them the satisfaction they seek. Cruella juggles both in a way—it’s definitely cool and badass to see her wrecking the Baroness’s scene as a punk designer who stages guerilla fashion promotions, but we also see how her quest may cause her to lose the things that really matter. More on that in a bit.
The top draw here is probably the audacious costumes and hair/makeup, which don’t disappoint. From the Baroness’s sleek couture to Cruella’s daring fashions, this is a film that looks delicious throughout. There’s also the cool soundtrack—although the original film is from 1961, this prequel takes place in 1970s London, and the needle drops always match the mood. And then, of course, there’s the acting. Both Emmas, Stone and Thompson, are terrific as Cruella and the Baroness respectively. Both do an excellent job as their own characters, and they’re particularly great when they’re onscreen together. Whether it’s the Baroness delivering some blistering career advice to her protege Estella or one of her splashy galas getting upstaged by Cruella’s theatrics, they play off each other wonderfully. The always-good Mark Strong does a nice job as the Baroness’s valet John, and Paul Walter Hauser is delightfully fun as Estella’s thieving buddy Horace. And some of the smaller roles are filled out by some welcome faces: Emily Beecham (the Widow from Into the Badlands) plays Estella’s mother in the opening segment of the film, while Kirby Howell-Baptiste (who I still love best as Simone from The Good Place) plays Anita and Kayvan Novak (Nandor from the TV version of What We Do in the Shadows) plays Roger.
Okay now, let’s talk about Joel Fry! He plays Jasper, Estella’s other thieving buddy. It’s been a good two decades since I’ve seen either the animated film or the live-action movie from the ‘90s, and all I really remembered about Jasper and Horace were that 1) they were Cruella’s henchmen, possibly bumbling, 2) there was a tall skinny one and a shorter fat one, and 3) Hugh Laurie played Jasper in the live-action version (both he and Fry, naturally, are well-suited to playing the “tall skinny one.”)
As I said, I wasn’t sure what kind of material this movie would give Fry to work with. Sure, the movie was obviously going to completely reinvent Cruella, but would they do the same for her henchmen? I went in prepared for the possibility that Jasper wouldn’t do much besides lackey work and some comic relief.
Instead, and I swear this is more than just my bias talking, Jasper kind of winds up being the heart of the film? In this version of the story, Jasper and Horace meet Estella as kids, and they all grow up together grifting as street urchins. That carries over into their adulthood, when Jasper is the one who helps Estella get her first inroad into the fashion world, insisting to Horace that he’s not working an angle with it. “I’ll tell you what,” he says. “The angle is that Estella is way too talented to be doing grifts with the likes of me and you.” And when Estella first puts the Baroness in her crosshairs, Jasper and Horace are both a little wary but ready to help her as their friend.
Both guys have plenty of screentime throughout the film. Fry and Hauser are an entertaining duo together. Horace is uncomplicated and slightly dim—Cruella’s voiceover describes him in their childhood meeting as “generally annoying”—while “Jasper was the insightful one [...] which was also annoying.” First in their early montage of grifts, and then in the various stages of Cruella’s revenge quest, they show off their assortment of underworld skills. Jasper has a knack for lockpicking, he knows how to disable a security system, and he’s good at improvising when things go south in the middle of a job.
And because Horace doesn’t quite have the range to articulate it, Jasper is the one who takes the reins on expressing their concerns as Cruella gets in deeper and deeper. He wants to help and support his friend, but he’ll also push back if he thinks she’s going too far. This is especially true when Cruella directs her derisive insults at him and Horace, when she starts treating them less like partners and more like henchmen. “Hey!” he exclaims when Cruella calls Horace an imbecile. “No, no, no, you can’t talk to us like that! We’re helping you here!” Icily, she responds, “So don’t.”
Throughout this whole descent, Jasper is trying to keep one hand on the steering wheel so things don’t get out of control. He’s standing up for himself and Horace, making it clear that Cruella shouldn’t take them for granted. And he never really stops trying to reach Estella, worried for her even as he’s upset with how she’s treating him.
It’s a genuinely great character, and Fry plays him so well—his Jasper is funny, sharp, and earnest. He has some good bits of physical comedy, like his gangly flailing as he and Horace are struggling to walk some fierce kidnapped dogs, and he brings a nice honesty to his scenes with Stone. Also, we get some guitar playing from him, which is always welcome!
Accent Watch
London.
Recommend?
In General – Yes. Get over the goofy thing with the dalmatians at the beginning and just enjoy yourself. This is a fun, stylish movie, and everyone involved put their all into it.
Joel Fry – Absolutely! No lies, I kind of love Jasper. Fry is awesome here!
Warnings
Thematic elements, some violence, scary moments for kids, drinking, sanist language (repeated use of the word “psycho,”) and a few scenes of animal peril (but I have to stress, there are no serious moments of animal cruelty in this movie.)
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