Review: CRUELLA

​CRUELLA: Screenplay analysis - I enjoyed the origin story as THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA meets rock n roll. I loved the inclusion of dogs (though I wish they weren't CGI) and it was great to see Anita and Roger before they become the married couple with the hundreds of Dalmatians.

Critiques: Needed more evidence to prove the difference between Estella and Cruella as a child. Estella and Cruella were mischievous, therefore the need to put Cruella away wasn't earned.

The transition into Cruella was sudden. Though it made logical sense that learning the truth about her mother's death would motivate her to seek revenge, it didn't feel natural for her to go so far so quickly. We knew she had to get there, but it felt abrupt.

Payoffs w/o Setups: What made the Baroness suspect Estella as Cruella before she thought she killed her dogs? What made the Baroness think Cruella was alive?

A true relationship between Anita and Cruella would've strengthened the Baroness' conspiracy theory. But, Anita wasn't actually in on anything. She wasn't needed to bring Cruella fame. There were plenty of camera bulbs going off to reach the same goal.
​
Needed a reason/ purpose for the cane. It didn't compliment the first outfit for that to be the reason it was included. Every time she used it, it felt like a reach.

Check out our Development Notes service to get personalized feedback from one of our Story Experts and take your screenplay to the next level!

---

AUTHOR

Shannan E. Johnson is a former creative executive at The Syfy Channel turned CEO + Head Consultant of The Professional Pen, a script consultancy that develops screenwriters from idea to pitch to become more confident storytellers ready for a professional screenwriting career, and consults with scripted development teams at entertainment companies to streamline their notes process to get to pre-production more efficiently.