Released two years ago, Cruella, a movie directed by Craig Gillespie, is a perfect movie for the spooky season. Gillespie captures the story behind Cruella’s evilness as we all know it and portrays it in a way that allows the audience to sympathize and understand the story from her perspective.

Estella is a bright and intelligent ‘grifter’ who is determined to make herself known in the fashion industry. She meets a pair of thieves shortly after her mother is killed and with their help, the three of them become master thieves in the streets of London. After ‘befriending’ Baroness von Hellman, who contributed to the death of her mother, Estella embraces her evil side, determined to get revenge on the baroness for the death of her mother. 

The movie took me through a whirlwind of emotions but the most impactful moments were when I was able to see the shift between Estella and Cruella. Estella was diligent and held a lot of care for those she was close to. Cruella was an evil beast, with outfits that outshined the Baroness by miles, determined to replace the Baroness as number one in the fashion world. Jasper and Horace’s shifts could see other hints that showed how Estella was slowly morphing into Cruella in how they viewed Estella/Cruella. 

Other things that I would like to applaud are the details of the fashion designs in the movie. As the story implies, fashion is the one thing that the Baroness and Estella/Cruella had in common and the Baroness would consistently compliment Estella’s work. Jenny Beaven, the lead designer of all the outfits of the movie, made Cruella’s outfits based on the storyline that I felt suited very well to the movie. She used colors that would make Cruella stand out at every event in the movie, but also give Emma Stone, who played Cruella, enough room to fully execute her roles. 

The movie itself was amazing, I was glued to the seat and watched it all in one sitting. The fashion designs in the film were incredibly appealing and made the movie overall a better watch. Gillespie had truly outdone himself with the production of Cruella and I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is looking for any kind of inspiration. 

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from MUSE.