Cruella is a 2021 American black comedy film directed by Craig Gillespie from a screenplay by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara, and a story by Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel, and Steve Zissis.

[11] Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Marc Platt Productions, and Gunn Films, it is based on Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians,[12] serving as a backstory and an alternate origin story for its antagonist, Cruella de Vil.

It was released in the United States theatrically by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and simultaneously available on Disney+ with its Premier Access feature on May 28, to generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed over $233 million worldwide.

In 1964 England, Estella Miller is a creative child with a talent for fashion, but is ostracized for her black and white hair and develops a nefarious streak.

After Estella got expelled from school, Catherine decides to move them to London, stopping at a party at Hellman Hall, a mansion on the Suffolk coast to ask the host for money.

Sneaking inside, Estella loses her mother's necklace while being chased by the host's Dalmatian dogs, which push Catherine off a cliffside balcony to her death.

The three become great friends; Estella practices thievery and grifts with Jasper and Horace, honing her fashion skills by designing their disguises, alongside their dogs, Buddy and Wink.

She drunkenly redecorates the window display and impresses Baroness von Hellman, a renowned but authoritarian haute couture designer who offers her a coveted job at her fashion house.

At the ball, Cruella steals the spotlight as Jasper and Horace break into von Hellman's vault, but they realize that the Baroness is already wearing the necklace.

She then upstages von Hellman at various events in extravagant fashions, gaining notoriety via society columnist Anita Darling, Estella's childhood friend who has agreed to continue writing articles about her.

In a mid-credits scene, Cruella sends Dalmatian puppies to both Anita and Roger –– the latter now works as a musician —- respectively named Perdita and Pongo.

[24] In November 2016, it was reported that Disney had hired Alex Timbers to direct the live-action adaptation, with Marc Platt joining the film as a producer.

[51] On May 28, 2021, Disney+, in partnership with Social Tailors and Jeferson Araujo released an AR Effect[52] for Cruella, where users could share stories on Instagram of themselves with makeup and visuals inspired by the film.

The website's critics consensus reads: "Cruella can't quite answer the question of why its title character needed an origin story, but this dazzling visual feast is awfully fun to watch whenever its leading ladies lock horns.

Writing for Variety, Peter Debruge said: The director, who brought a wicked edge to pop-culture redux I, Tonya a few years back, has rescued Cruella from the predictability of the earlier 101 Dalmatians remakes and created a stylish new franchise of its own in which a one-time villain has been reborn as the unlikeliest of role models.[4]A.

[72] Peter Travers, reviewing the film for ABC News, wrote: If looks really were everything, Cruella would be flying high on the dazzling costumes that two-time Oscar winner Jenny Beavan has designed for star Emma Stone to swan around in as this iconic villain of page and screen.

[75] Alonso Duralde of TheWrap wrote: Placing these characters in the '60s and '70s allows director Craig Gillespie and screenwriters Dana Fox and Tony McNamara to place the characters into an exciting moment of fashion history ... Costumer Jenny Beavan, art director Martin Foley, and production designer Fiona Crombie, and their respective departments, all seem to be enjoying and making the most of the film's period demands.

[76]In addition, Duralde also lauded the performances of Stone, Hauser, and Thompson, drawing comparisons of the characterizations of the latter's portrayal of the Baroness to Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada and Reynolds Woodcock in Phantom Thread.

[76] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded the film four out of five stars, describing it as "entertaining" and an "outrageous punk", as well as praising the performances and dynamic between Stone and Thompson.

[77] Chicago Sun-Times's Richard Roeper rated the film with 3/4 stars, and highlighted Gillespie's direction for being "clever" and "devilishly offbeat" while praising the performances of Stone and Thompson as "appropriately over-the-top and wildly entertaining", drawing its comparisons to The Devil Wears Prada and also commended the costumes, makeup, and the production values of which he referred to as "spectacular", "dazzling" and a "visual feast", comparing its style to Phantom Thread and noting the similarities of the vibe and tone of the film's soundtrack to Goodfellas, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and Baby Driver.

In addition, Collin also praised the film's visual style and Beavan's costume design as "eyeball-popping" and "a garden-hose-blast to the eyeballs of pure sartorial flair and exuberance".

[80] Jamie Jirak from ComicBook.com called the film as "raising the bar when it comes to their [Disney's] live-action catalog", praising the art department, the performances and nostalgic elements.

[81] Debopriyaa Dutta from Screen Rant opined that the film told a "masterfully nuanced origin" and praised the performances of Stone and Hauser.

While praising the performances of Stone, Thompson, Fry, and Hauser, as well as the costumes; she criticized the film, writing, and the runtime of which she found it as "overstuffed", "overlong", and "miserably misanthropic".

[86] Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2/4 stars, and said: "There's no denying that Cruella is stylish and kinetic, with a nasty edge that's unusual for a recent Disney live-action feature.

"[87] Jacobin's Eileen Jones labelled the film as a "dopey, uninspired, and tedious mess", specifically criticizing the script as "basically rotten" and describing the transformation of Cruella's character as "the complete mangling of one of the greatest Disney villains of all time."

Jones took issue with the absence of the "implied critique [...] of Cruella's wealthy entitlement and mad consumer obsession" as shown in 101 Dalmatians, and the attempt to make a "legendary dalmatian-skinning villain" into a "scrappy, likable hero".

[122] In June 2021, Disney announced that a sequel was officially in the early stages of development, with Gillespie and McNamara expected to return as director and writer, respectively.