Estella (Emma Stone) became an orphan when her mother died ten years ago. She makes her living in 1970s London as a pickpocket with her best friends, Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser). Her true passion is fashion, so she lands a job as a cleaner at Liberty, an upscale department store where she grabs the attention of world renowned fashion designer Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson) who hires her as her assistant. Estella changes her name to Cruella when she starts her own line of fashion while competing with the Baroness.

       Beginning with a prologue that explains the events that led up to the death of Estella's mother, Cruella takes its time before it flashes forward 10 years later. The reasons why those initial scenes are important become much more apparent later on as Estella learns harsh truths about her childhood that won't be spoiled here. For the most part, the screenplay by Dana Fox, Tony McNamara, Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel and Steve Zissis, combines comedy, action, suspense and drama smoothly. The dialogue is even witty at times, and the characters are amusing even though they're not always likable, especially Estella who's an anti-hero and far from someone who's a good role model. What makes her and the Baroness so compelling as characters is that they're both stubborn, confident and not afraid to speak their mind, so when they clash with one another as Cruella develops her own style of fashion, it's a lot of fun.

      Underneath the fun and comedy, though, there's a lot of darkness and tragedy which rises to the surface later on and adds complexity as well as psychological drama. The screenwriters clearly understand human nature and the way that narcissists like the Baroness use and abuse their victims while gaslighting them, and how deep down inside they're just an insecure, wounded child who has a lot of growing up and healing to do. At times, the dynamics between Estella and the Baroness feels similar to the power dynamics in The Favourite and The Devil Wears Prada, but there's nothing wrong with that---Tony McNamara, one of the screenwriters of Cruella, happens to also be one of the screenwriters of The Favourite. It's more important where a film takes its ideas to than where it takes its ideas from, after all, so it's fortunate that Cruella becomes increasingly deeper and darker which makes it all the more compelling on a human level.  

      The two Emmas both give lively and engaging performances, and it's enormously entertaining to watch them play off of each other. They're clearly having a lot of fun with their roles.  The same can be said about John McCrea as Artie, a clothing store owner who befriends Estella/Cruella, who provides some campiness, and the underrated Mark Strong as the Baroness' butler. The main star of the film, though, is the fashion  which looks very stylish and will surely nab some year-end awards for best costume design. Hair & make-up design also looks top-notch. It's also worth mentioning the soundtrack with some well-chosen songs that fit the 1970s time period. The brief use of CGI adds some style as well, so this is definitely the kind of film that has plenty of eye candy. At a running time of 2 hours and 14 minutes, Cruella is wickedly funny, witty and full of pizzazz.