WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Cruella, now playing in theaters and streaming on Disney+ Premier Access.
We know Cruella de Vil as an eccentric aristocrat whose sole joy in life is fur coats. Yet in Cruella, the title character doesn't start life as wealthy or wicked. She's simply Estella, a brash and creative child who often creates trouble, but lacks the financial means to be taken seriously in the world of fashion, first as the daughter of a poor, single mother and then, after her mother dies, as an orphan who becomes a thief to get by. Yet, by the end of Cruella, Estella ascends to heights she never expected both through her own creative genius and by claiming a birthright she never knew was hers.
Throughout the film, Estella constructs and strategically deploys the persona of Cruella to get revenge on the Baroness, a fashion icon Estella also learned murdered her mother when she was 12. Cruella's brilliance for clothing design and provocative ways of showcasing it grab the attention of the fashion world and make her the Baroness' number one rival. So when the Baroness figures out who Cruella is, she has her home burned down with Cruella in it. Luckily, Cruella is saved by the Baroness' valet John, but the newspapers report that Cruella has died. Meanwhile, John hides Estella away at his place where he reveals that Estella is actually the Baroness' daughter. The Baroness thought John had kill her child immediately after she was born, as she'd requested, but really John gave her to Catherine, one of the Baroness' maids, to raise.
Despite learning her true parentage, Estella's desire for revenge against the Baroness is more pronounced than ever, and the revelation that she is the true heir to the Baroness' fortune gives her one more way to take away everything the Baroness loves. Estella's plan plays out during a gala at Hellman Hall, the Baroness' remote mansion. She sends all the guests wigs with black-and-white hairdos like Cruella's. The wigs are accompanied by a card supposedly from the Baroness that asks them to wear the wigs as a tribute to the supposedly deceased Cruella. This is not only incredibly disconcerting to the Baroness but also enables Cruella to slip through the crowd undetected.
Estella then puts on a wig of red hair, the look she used when she went by her given name, and uses the Baroness' dog whistle, which she'd stolen earlier in the party, to summon the Baroness' dalmatians to the same cliffside where her mother died. The dogs drag the Baroness with them and, when the Baroness realizes Estella is alive and waiting for her, she sends the dalmatians to attack her. However, the dogs obey when Estella commands them to sit.
Since Plan A doesn't work, the Baroness tries Plan B. She comes closer to Estella, and when Estella informs her that she's discovered the Baroness is her mother, the cold fashionista tries to manipulate her long-lost daughter by suggesting a reconciliation. However, when the conversation ends with a hug, the Baroness takes the opportunity to push Estella off the cliff. Unbeknownst to her, however, at the behest of Cruella's allies who've also infiltrated the party, a crowd has gathered behind her and sees her push Estella, which leads to her arrest and conviction on murder charges.
Of course, Estella isn't really dead, although she is ultimately buried. Estella had a parachute secretly strapped to her clothes and when the Baroness pushes her, she deploys it and saves her life. However, in order for the murder charges against her biological mother to stick, Estella has to remain dead, so Estella becomes Cruella full time. However, before Estella's death, she willed her fortune to Cruella, ensuring she still inherits the Baroness' money, property, and three dalmatians.
After permanently becoming Cruella, she rejects the Baroness' last name, Hellman, and instead removes the "man" from the word at the entrance to the drive to Hellman Hall, changing the mansion's title to Hell Hall. This is an especially appropriate change given Estella has also decided to give Cruella the last name de Vil.
Finally, a mid-credits sequence in Cruella points to the possibility of a One Hundred and One Dalmatians-inspired sequel. In the sequence, Anita and Roger, the central human couple in the animated classic, receive dalmatian puppies named Pongo and Perdita, respectively, the parents of the puppies Cruella eventually dognaps. Yet, according to the cards included with them, the puppies are a gift from Cruella, who promises to see Anita "soon."
Directed by Craig Gillespie, Cruella stars Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser, Joel Fry, Emily Beecham, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Mark Strong. The film is currently available in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access.