Cruella: The villain redemption era

Until the modern age, movies usually followed the offhand script involving a protagonist and an antagonist where it was not difficult to figure out which character is morally good or bad. Recently, around the time when fluidity and identities were being standardised and finally accepted, audiences started to empathise with avowed villains of a story. Some movies lay the cornerstones of films that would dig deeper into the backstories and trauma of the ethically terrible characters in a movie. To name a few movies that portray villain characters redemption is Darth Vader from Star Wars, The Grinch, and Gru from despicable me.

In 1961, a classic animated film “101 Dalmatians” was released, it had its interpretations of what a protagonist and an antagonist should be. The antagonist was a cold-hearted, emotionless, nightmarish she-devil named Cruella De Vil and one could regard the dogs and their puppies as the true protagonists of the movie. Her name is a wordplay for the words “cruel” and “devil”. Sides were taken and Cruella was deemed to be one of the most wicked, immoral, and demonic characters ever written. I mean who’d want to side with a character who craves to kill dogs for a coat.

Cruella, a redemption movie for the said villain in 101 Dalmatians, was released in May 2021. It scrutinises Cruella as a character historically and the reason behind why she is so cruel. Emma Stone personates Cruella perfectly, the unique hairstyle, the posh dresses, the dramatic but ungodly aura, and the accent. My admiration is limitless when it comes to the sets used in the movie like the remarkable portrayal of London during the past. The castings for The Baroness, Jasper, and Horace, and Artie were absolutely up to the standard.

The main plot as to why Cruella is hateful toward Dalmatians is for the reason that her “adoptive” mother was killed by three dalmatians pushing her off a cliff. The dogs were called to do so by the Baroness through a dog whistle. This sets off Cruella to become, well cruel, and seek vengeance. The ending is satisfactory and accounts for Cruella’s last name. The film ends with the song “Call Me Cruella” by Florence + the Machine played through the credit scene.

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