CRUELLA

CRUELLA has enough visual creativity to explain its three-star entertainment rating. The fashion designs are the film’s strongest feature, and Emma Thompson gives an exceptional performance. A pro-life theme is also one of the movie’s few positive elements.

But the story rambles and becomes increasingly convoluted. More seriously, the film follows a character who embraces evil without facing repercussions. Its humanist outlook says little about accountability beyond looking out for yourself and your own benefit.

This is not a good choice for family movie night. If you are an adult who wants to see the fashion and can weigh the film’s moral outlook carefully, wait to watch it at home, where you can control the experience.

Estella dreams of becoming a fashion designer. After growing up with two orphaned boys who steal to survive, she uses her own creative gifts to help them con people. Years later, she finds work at London’s Liberty Department store and catches the attention of its famous designer, the Baroness.

But the Baroness takes credit for Estella’s designs. Estella responds by creating a bold alter ego called Cruella and challenging the woman who stands between her and her dream.

Three stars means CRUELLA has real creative appeal but significant weaknesses. The fashion is entertaining and noteworthy, and Emma Thompson is exceptional.

The movie is generally overacted, and much of the plot rambles. The storyline is convoluted, and the review finds that an entire hour could have been deleted to make the film more cohesive. The result is stylish but uneven.

CRUELLA presents a humanist worldview centered on looking out for yourself and your own benefit. Its central character decides to become evil and grows more intense and unlikeable as the story develops. She is excited about becoming evil, has no qualms about it, and receives no repercussions for stealing or doing bad things to others.

The film does include one positive pro-life theme. That theme is a pivotal point in the story, but it does not overcome the movie’s larger moral problem: evil is not meaningfully rebuked, and bad behavior carries no consequences. The story’s revenge, greed, stealing, lying, and deceit are treated as part of the character’s rise rather than as wrongdoing requiring accountability.

Scripture teaches that people are accountable for what they do: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10). That biblical truth stands against a story where becoming evil brings no repercussions.

CRUELLA offers creative fashion and an exceptional performance from Emma Thompson, but its convoluted story and humanist morality make it a poor family choice. For discerning adults, watch at home rather than in theaters: WAIT FOR HOME — ADULTS ONLY. For another option, see.