emma stone – We Are Movie Geeks

BUGONIA – Review

Jesse Plemons stars as Teddy in director Yorgos Lanthimos’ BUGONIA, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved.

Jesse Plemons gives a jaw-dropping performance as conspiracy-obsessed young man who convinces his pliant cousin to help him kidnap the high-powered woman CEO, played by Emma Stone, of a Big Pharma/agra-chemical company, driven by the belief that she is an alien from another planet who is set on destroying the world, in BUGONIA, Yorgos Lanthimos’ darkly comic, oft horrifying but ultimately humanly touching social commentary on our crazy modern world. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos is known for his award-winning, imaginative films with a dark world view, such as THE LOBSTER, THE FAVOURITE, and POOR THINGS. BUGONIA is actually a loose re-make of a South Korean film, SAVE THE GREEN PLANET, and the pair of young men plan to force the CEO alien to contact her emperor and call off the destruction of Earth. Basically, it comes down to a face-off between the obsessed conspiracy-theorist and the heartless corporate CEO, in a battle of the wills filled with twists and enough unexpected turns to spin your head around.

The strange title actually comes from an ancient Greek ritual in which a bull is sacrificed in such a way that it was believed that the carcass would produce bees. This plan to have the alien CEO contact her space alien emperor seems as likely to succeed.

While this premise seems ripe for comedy, audiences should be warned that the film has plenty of violence, and a horror aspect, not just talking in the basement where the two are holding her.

What really makes this film is Jesse Plemons’ startling performance. Plemons gives an Oscar-worthy performance unlike anything you have ever seen from him, as a young beekeeper and environmentalist in a fading small town, who has been driven mad by terrible events in his life and too much time spent on the conspiracy-theory drenched internet. He lives in the crumbling old house outside of town where he grew up with his mother, along with his neurodivergent cousin.

Beyond saving the planet, Jesse Plemon’s character has more personal issues with Emma Stone’s CEO. One of his issues with her company is linked to colony collapse disorder, which the beekeeper links to certain chemicals, and the other has to do with his mother’s experimental treatment for drug addiction, which had devastating results.

While Plemon’s character is a lost soul with a tragic history, Emma Stone’s CEO is a soul less, hard-driven executive in spike heels who works out with martial arts and seems to have little feeling for people. In one of her first scenes, the CEO is recording a diversity message for her employees, when she flubs a line saying “diversity” too many times, with an expression that makes it clear she’d rather not say it at all. She walks down a hall, reminding her employees they now can leave work at 5:30pm. adding “Your call!” but then “unless you have work to finish,” undercutting the whole work-life balance initiative she is launching. “Your call!” she repeats.

Plemon’s character Teddy’s partner in crime is his pliant cousin Don, played well by fuzzy-haired newcomer Aidan Delbis, who lives with Teddy because he has no one else. Don adores his smart, slightly older cousin, who apparently is the only one in town who treats him with kindness and a level of respect. Plemon’s Teddy is clearly smart but absorbed in his elaborate tin-hat theories, which the pliant cousin listens to and accepts – partly because he feels he has no choice.

Teddy wants to kidnap alien CEO Michelle to force to contact her Emperor and call of the attack on Earth. The kidnapping doesn’t go smoothly but the pair do get her back to Teddy’s basement. However, he does not want her to contact her Mothership for rescue, so he cuts off her hair – which is how she sends messages to other aliens.

At first our sympathies are more with the broken, lost Teddy, but that turns rather quickly. And turn back again, and again, with a series of shockers and twists that continue to the end.

None of these characters are simple or black-and-white. The film gives all the characters depth and complexity, which adds an unexpected layer of humanity and heart to the tale, despite the sometimes awful events than unfold.

Whether it is aliens or just alienation, BUGONIA delivers a punch, but primarily through the outstanding performances, especially by Jesse Plemons, one that should win him an Oscar nod at a minimum.

BUGONIA opens Friday, Oct. 31, in theaters.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

Win Passes To The St. Louis Advance Screening Of BUGONIA

BUGONIA is the latest film from acclaimed director Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness) starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. It is a thriller with a wild premise; two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. Opening in St. Louis on October 31st.

https://www.focusfeatures.com/bugonia

The St. Louis screening is at 7PM on Tuesday on October 28 at Alamo Drafthouse St. Louis. (6pm Suggested Arrival)

ENTER HERE FOR PASSES: http://focusfeaturesscreenings.com/xvDcp53653

Please arrive early as seating is not guaranteed.

(L to R) Aidan Delbis as Don, Jesse Plemons as Teddy and Emma Stone as Michelle in director Yorgos Lanthimos’ BUGONIA, a Focus Features release. Credit: Atsushi Nishijima/Focus Features © 2025 All Rights Reserved.

EDDINGTON – Review

With last weekend’s “super” domination at the multiplex by one big blockbuster, some filmgoers may be looking for a break from the usual escapist Summer cinematic offerings. Well, that “indie upstart” A24 is always ready to provide a diversion that’s truly “off the beaten path”. And the setting for this flick is “way off” that trail, as an acclaimed, somewhat eccentric filmmaker guides us into a dusty desert town that’s fraught with old feuds and frustrations. Plus, the early 2020 “climate” not only brings everyone there to a “boiling point”, but it may provide the ‘spark” that could ignite the “tinderbox town” of EDDINGTON.

The village that has “seen better days” is in a remote part of New Mexico. The timeline of the tale is May 2020. In the opening scene, the town’s longtime sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) gets into a “dust-up” with two patrolmen from a nearby jurisdiction over his refusal to don a face mask. Yes, we’re in the midst of the COVID pandemic. Joe is called back to Eddington to deal with an angry unmasked derelict who tries to enter the pub owned and managed by the incumbent mayor, Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal). After the situation is “handled,” the two men exchange words. Joe has a “beef” with Ted since he was a former “flame” of Joe’s emotionally fragile wife, Louise (Emma Stone). Due to the lockdown, her abrasive mother, Dawn (Deidre O’Connell) lives with them. The ladies spend their days clicking on conspiracy websites while Louise crafts her strange dolls. The next day, Joe and Ted “get into it “again at the local grocery store (yes, over masks). Joe makes an impulsive decision. He posts a cell phone video announcing that he’ll challenge Ted in the upcoming election. He enlists the help of his deputies, the dim “hothead” Guy (Luke Grimes) and the more laid-back, ambitious Michael (Micheal Ward). But a news event soon takes time away from the campaign. A small group of young people block off the dusty main street to protest the killing of George Floyd. Will these conflicts derail the plans for a huge data processing plant that will be built just a few miles away (which could energize the flagging economy)? And how will several “shadowy forces” influence the election and make the debates take a deadly turn?

For once, the marketing clues us into who is the real lead character of this film is. Despite the “star-studded” cast, the real focus is Phoenix as the surly, obstinate sheriff turned politico. He snarls and grumbles through most of his scenes, though Phoenix plays him as an angry teen with almost no impulse control. He doesn’t really know what kind of trouble he’s put himself in as Phoenix furrows his brow as Joe flails like a non-swimmer suddenly in the “deep end”. Still, he has great tenderness with his “Rabbit” AKA wife Louise, played with a jittery twitch by the compelling Stone. Louise appears to be in a fog that seems to dissolve as she plunges into the world of internet mysteries. It’s not until the campaign heats up that we see her speak out against becoming a pawn in the big battle to run the town. This all stems from her past history with Garcia, who is given a real “average Joe” likability by the engaging Pascal. He “plays for the people,” although he isn’t afraid to confront Joe by “getting in his face”. Pascal is also quite effective in the father/son dynamic with the snarky Matt Gomez Hidaka as his only child, Eric. O’Connell is quite a ‘force of nature’ as the domineering Mama Dawn, doing a more focused and less ruthless riff on her excellent work as the Penguin’s matriarch on the streaming smash. Grimes is a flighty lunkhead as Guy, while Ward simmers as the conflicted deputy Mike, who is often the only voice of sanity in the chaotic station house. Though he’s prominent in the poster, Austin Butler only has an extended cameo role (just a scene or two) as cult leader/ motivational speaker VJ Peak, whose “rap” bewilders Joe. Also of note are the main protest “rep” Sarah played by Amelie Hoeferle and Cameron Mann as the off-kilter Brian, who appears to have a sinister agenda that he’s slowly putting into motion.

Now the filmmakerr I mentioned in the opening is the quirky (to say the least) writer/director Ari Aster, who veers away from his comfort zone of disturbing horror cult faves like HERDITARY, MIDSOMMAR, and BEAU IS AFRAID to try his hand at an (somewhat) modern Western (Joe’s almost always in his white stetson). I would counter that label by floating that he’s crafted a dark, almost pitch black, social satire. But I’m reminded of a phrase from the world of stand-up comedy, when a joke about a tragedy falls flat: “Too soon?”. I’m not sure if five years is enough distance from the pandemic and the Floyd BLM protests, along with raving internet paranoia, and a “sidebar” about the taking of the land of indigenous peoples. Rather than evoking laughter, it brings up the memories of such a divisive time, becoming truly “squirmy” “cringe” humor. Perhaps if it were only about a small-town election, the satirical scalpel would be sharper to make a cleaner cut. Instead, Aster has an overstuffed “bag of topics” that help account for his 144-minute runtime. Part of the pacing problem may be the extended finale of mayhem that mixes elements of the Roadrunner cartoons and Russ Myers’ bloody excess, with a touch of Coen Brothers chaos of RAISING ARIZONA. It’s all too obvious and exhausting, although several current political jabs do hit the mark. But it’s drowned out by the explosions and caricatured carnage. All these desperate themes make a trek to EDDINGTON a most overwhelming and tiresome getaway. And strictly for fans of the star and director…

2 Out of 4

EDDINGTON is now playing in select theatres

EDDINGTON Trailer Stars Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler And Emma Stone

Credit: Richard Foreman/A24

Written and directed by Ari Aster and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Luke Grimes, Deirdre O’Connell, Micheal Ward, with Austin Butler and Emma Stone, here’s a first look at the trailer for EDDINGTON.

In May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phoenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.

“A lot of these characters are dueling political ideas converging into different, isolated people,” Aster says. “I wanted to make a sort of American genre epic with updated archetypes. But it felt important that the movie be sympathetic to all of these characters and to their fears. These are normal people who are flawed, but who believe they’re standing up for what’s right, and what they’re feeling is not wrong, it’s just that it all comes out in really weird, distorted and frightening ways. There are deep structural inequalities that have always been here and they’re obviously still here. There is a terrible problem out there, and a lot of these right-wing conspiracies borrow from left-wing conspiracies of the 1960s and 70s, and the people who are gripped by them are not wrong and they’re not crazy. They’ve just been driven crazy by this system and the way that they’re haunted by it.”

See EDDINGTON in theaters on July 18.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ BUGONIA To Be Released By Focus Features – Stars Emma Stone And Jesse Plemons

Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone on the set of POOR THINGS. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

BUGONIA, the next film from six-time Academy Award® nominated filmmaker Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe (Element Pictures), Yorgos Lanthimos, Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen (Square Peg), Emma Stone (Fruit Tree), Miky Lee and Jerry Kyoungboum Ko (CJ ENM) (POOR THINGS, THE FAVOURITE, THE LOBSTER, THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER) has landed at Focus Features. Focus will release BUGONIA. with Universal Pictures distributing internationally (exclusively in Korea). The film stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons.

Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The film is written by Will Tracy.

BUGONIA is based on the South Korean sci-fi comedy, “Save the Green Planet” 2003. This English language version was developed by CJ ENM with Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen at Square Peg. The production has been financed by Fremantle and CJ ENM. Producers are Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe (Element Pictures), Yorgos Lanthimos, Ari Aster and Lars Knudsen (Square Peg), Emma Stone (Fruit Tree), Miky Lee and Jerry Kyoungboum Ko (CJ ENM).

Lathimos’ 2023 film Poor Things, won the Golden Lion at the 2023 Venice film festival and earned 11 Academy Award® nominations and took home four wins, including Best Actress for star Emma Stone. Most recently, Kinds of Kindness held its world premiere at the 77th Festival de Cannes and opens theatrically in the U.S. on June 21, 2024.

Focus Features has a stellar lineup of films to be released, this summer, later this year and into 2025.

THE BIKERIDERS from director Jeff Nichols on June 21st, PIECE BY PIECE from Morgan Neville about the life of multifaceted global superstar Pharrell Williams told through the lens of LEGO bricks, Robert Eggers’ reimagining of NOSFERATU, Edward Berger’s thriller CONCLAVE, Sundance-Award winner DÌDI (弟弟)’ (TRAILER) from Sean Wang, Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming crime-thriller BLACK BAG starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender and the highly anticipated third installment of the DOWNTON ABBEY franchise.

Stone is represented by Anonymous Content, WME, The Lede Company and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett and Kole.

Plemons is represented by TalentWorks and attorney David Matlof.

POOR THINGS – Review

*Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo in POOR THINGS. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.*

Smart, clever and inventive, POOR THINGS is described by the filmmakers as “the fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life from the brink of death by the brilliant, daring scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe).” Based on the novel by the late Scottish author Alasdair Gray, director Lanthimos and scriptwriter Tony McNamara also reference Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” making this off-beat coming-of-age fantasy a kind of “feminist Frankenstein” that is part dark comedy, part adventure thriller and pure smart entertaining fantasy with an uplifting message.

POOR THINGS is a wild science fiction coming-of-age tale set in an alternate Victorian world that is part steam punk and part anachronistic fantasy from the writer/director who gave us THE FAVORITE and THE LOBSTER, Yorgos Lanthimos. It is also a whole lot of fun and an eye-popping visual treat, in which a young innocent meets a villain but it upends melodrama rules by essentially rescuing herself. The film is somewhat in the vein of a coming-of-age sexual romp like “Tom Jones” but flips the script on that male-centric sexual adventure by putting a young woman on that rule-breaking journey, making it a rollicking feminist adventure tale. Some of those adventures are bawdy, as they would be if the lead character were a young man, and the whole tale relishes breaking the rescue-the-maiden rules of melodrama.

Lanthimos and McNamara also collaborated on THE FAVOURITE, and audiences familiar with that fantasy retelling of Queen Anne’s real relationship with her closest friend, and with Lanthimos’s darker THE LOBSTER, know that this director can skillfully balance dark humor with thriller and even horror themes, turning from one to the other on the proverbial dime but without audience whiplash.

Set in a Victorian fantasy world that is part steam punk and part Merchant-Ivory film, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone ) is the creation of brilliant, eccentric scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Curious, energetic Bella has the body of a beautiful young woman but the brain of a baby, the result of Dr. Baxter’s experiment to save two lives by reviving a recently-dead body. We watch as Bella quickly grows from precocious as a curious child to an intellectually questing, sexually curious as a young woman eager to learn about the wider world.

Bella longs to explore the world beyond her sheltered home with her protective father-creator Dr. Godwin Baxter, whom she calls “God.” When the inquisitive woman-child also shows sexual curiosity, the doctor arranges for his medical student protege Max McCandless (Ramy Youssef) to become engaged to her. While Bella likes her new fiance, she is tempted by tales of the wider world told by crafty, unethical cad Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), and runs off with the villain.

While Dr. Baxter and Bella’s fiance are in frantic pursuit of the runaways, Ruffalo’s serial exploiter plans to seduce the innocent Bella and then discard her, of course. But Bella herself turns the tables on this familiar plot,” rescuing” her herself in her own way, while embarking on a grand tour combined with intellectual, philosophical and feminist coming-of-age journey.

This old-fashioned melodrama set-up is played for both drama and tongue-in-cheek comedy, with scenes sometimes mixing both serious and humorous. Bella embarks on an adventure that has a strong elements of “Tom Jones,” a continent-spanning journey that is a sexual adventure and intellectual/philosophical exploration, with a definite feminist twist. Who is exploiting who becomes the question.

Emma Stone gives an outstanding performance as the brilliant, irrepressible Bella, perhaps Stone’s career best so far, creating a character who is constantly surprising yet irresistible. Mark Ruffalo is also excellent as the villainous abductor, who more than gets his just desserts. Willem Dafoe’s doctor looks like an experiment gone wrong but turns out to have a heart of gold and Ramy Youssef makes his sweet, loyal assistant more than we expect too. The film is peppered with other memorable characters, with striking performances by Christopher Abbot , Suzy Bemba, Jerrod Carmichael, Kathryn Hunter, Vicki Pepperdine, and Margaret Qualley particularly.

POOR THINGS is a visual banquet, thanks to cinematography by Director of Photography Robbie Ryan, and production designers James Price and Shona Heath, and costume designer Holly Waddington. The colorful, creative costumes signal that we are in a very different world. From the waist up, Bella looks the picture of Victorian modesty, with high collars, ruffles, and puffy shoulders, but below the waist, she is dressed in mini-skirts, shorts, or skirts of gauzy fabric. Everyone else is dressed in proper Victorian attire, yet no one notices Bella’s wild, revealing outfits. The gorgeous sets are all lush Belle Epoque, Beaux-Arts architecture and plush velvet furniture, but with unexpected little visual twists to remind us we are in the realm of the fantastic.

This mix of dark humor, sexual adventure and feminist empowerment means POOR THINGS adds up to a very entertaining, smart movie, with both a brain and a heart, and topped by an uplifting message that will leave you bouncing out of the theater.

POOR THINGS opens Friday, Dec. 22, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

Watch Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo And Willem Dafoe In New Trailer For POOR THINGS

From filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos and producer Emma Stone comes the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.

Lanthimos has received three Academy Award nominations for his work with a Best Original Screenplay for The Lobster (2015) as well as Best Director and Best Picture for The Favourite (2018).

POOR THINGS opens in theaters September 8, 2023.

Mark Ruffalo in POOR THINGS. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo in POOR THINGS. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

Suzy Bemba in POOR THINGS. Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

POOR THING Teaser Features Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo And Willem Dafoe

Emma Stone in POOR THINGS. Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

In theaters on September 8th is Searchlight Pictures POOR THINGS, starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Jerrod Carmichael, and Christopher Abbott.

Today a first teaser was released.

Yorgos Lanthimos was nominated for a 2019 Academy Award in the Best Director category for his work on THE FAVOURITE (2018) but lost to Alfonso Cuarón for ROMA (2018). However Olivia Colman won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in THE FAVOURITE.

Willem Dafoe in POOR THINGS. Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

Ramy Youssef and Emma Stone in POOR THINGS. Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

The Hollywood Hit LA LA LAND Arrives February 8th on 4K Ultra HD SteelBook

“I’m letting life hit me until it gets tired. Then I’ll hit back. It’s a classic rope-a-dope.”

The Hollywood hit, La La Land,arrives February 8 on 4K Ultra HD™ SteelBook from Lionsgate, exclusively at Best Buy.

The Hollywood hit, La La Land, arrives February 8 on 4K Ultra HD™ SteelBook from Lionsgate, exclusively at Best Buy. From Academy Award^®-winning director Damien Chazelle (2016, Best Director, La La Land), the critically acclaimed film features Academy Award^® nominee Ryan Gosling (2016, Best Actor in a Leading Role, La La Land), Academy Award^® winner Emma Stone (2016, Best Actress in a Leading Role, La La Land), Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married, Your Sister’s Sister, Poltergeist), and Academy Award^® winner J.K. Simmons (2014, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Whiplash). Featuring all-new artwork from Jack Hughes, La La Land will be available on 4K Ultra HD™ SteelBook at Best Buy for the suggested retail price of $27.99.

Winner of 6 Academy Awards including Best Director for writer-director Damien Chazelle, and winner of a record-breaking 7 Golden Globe^® Awards including Best Picture – Musical/Comedy, La La Land is a cinematic treasure for the ages that you’ll fall in love with again and again. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling star as Mia and Sebastian, an actress and a jazz musician pursuing their Hollywood dreams — and finding each other — in a vibrant celebration of hope, dreams, and love.

4K ULTRA HD SPECIAL FEATURES

Another Day of Sun: They Closed Down a Freeway
La La Land’s Great Party
Ryan Gosling: Piano Student
Before Whiplash: Damien Chazelle’s Passion Project
The Music of La La Land
John Legend’s Acting Debut
The Look of Love: Designing La La Land
Epilogue: The Romance of the Dream
Damien & Justin Sing: The Demos
La La Land’s Love Letter to Los Angeles
Ryan and Emma: Third Time’s the Charm
Marketing Gallery
Song Selection
Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Damien Chazelle and Composer Justin Hurwitz

CAST
Ryan Gosling                          Blue Valentine, Drive, Blade Runner 2049
Emma Stone                           The Help, Easy A, Cruella
Rosemarie DeWitt                  Rachel Getting Married, Your Sister’s Sister,
Poltergeist

CRUELLA – Review

*Emma Stone as Cruella in Disney’s live-action CRUELLA. Photo by Laurie Sparham. © 2021 Disney Enterprises Inc. All Rights Reserved.*

Dueling Emmas face off in a battle of fashionistas behaving badly, in CRUELLA, in which Emma Thompson’s Anna Wintour-like fashion giant is challenged by Emma Stones’ Vivienne Westwood-like punk designer upstart. CRUELLA is more entertaining that one might expect for the live-action backstory of a Disney villain, Cruella de Vil from the animated classic 101 DALMATIANS. CRUELLA is more entertaining that one might expect. Creative, energetic, dark and spiked with campy humor, CRUELLA is a surprising bit of fun.

CRUELLA is sympathetic backstory that paints the famous Disney villain as a misunderstood underdog, but one of the best things about CRUELLA is that it is not another MALEFICENT. If you liked that Disney villain origin story, you may not care for this one, as CRUELLA takes itself far less seriously. Director Craig Gillespie (I TONYA) makes CRUELLA clever, energetic fun with just enough campy fun and a dark humor twist. Although named for the Disney villain, this film stands on its own, and would be just as entertaining if the central character had a different name.

Estella (Tipper Seifert-Cleveland) is a rebellious, brilliant young girl with unusual black and white hair, who arrives in ’60s London after being orphaned when some vicious dalmatians pushed her mother (Emily Beecham) off a cliff. She is taken in by a pair of grifter street urchins, who teach her their trade. In the punk ’70s, grown-up Estella (Emma Stone) has become skilled at the life of petty crime but she is a fashionista with a flare for costumes and disguises, and longs to be a fashion designer.

Her grifter mates Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) help Estella get her dream job at a posh department store, the Liberty, by creating a fake resume that claims she knows royalty. Ambitious Estella hopes to meet her favorite designer, the imperious Baroness (Emma Thompson), London’s top fashion designer, who has a connection to the store. Eventually, Estella does win a spot as an intern with the brutal Baroness but eventually Estella’s rebellious streak puts them at odds. Reinventing herself as an underground, wildly-creative punk designer named Cruella, the two face off on the runway and off.

CRUELLA samples a lot of other films, DEVIL WEARS PRAVDA certainly but also bits of TV’s “Queen’s Gambit,” Roald Dahl’s “Mathilda,” ALL ABOUT EVE, and a number of Charles Dickens novels. There was a team of scriptwriters, Tony McNamara (THE FAVORITE), Dana Fox, Aline Brosh McKenna, Kelly Marcel and Steve Zissis, whose creative, entertaining script samples a variety of sources. But the mix is melded well and it has plenty of energy and is a lot of fun, with dark edgy vibe and a killer soundtrack of mostly ’60s hits, including the Zombies, Rolling Stones and Animals.

However, if you liked that earlier Disney villain backstory film, MALEFICENT, this one may not be your cuppa. Disney purists probably will be displeased that is really doesn’t explain why the fashionista villain of 101 DALMATIONS would want a Dalmatian puppy skin coat, other than a tragic encounter with some attacking dalmatians, but then again, did MALIFICENT really explain her?

Better to think of this as an alternate universe prequel to the Disney classic, but however you can putting aside those pre-concieved ideas, the more you can just enjoy this wild ride. The story is more a dark, tongue-in-cheek comedy than anything. Emma Stone and Emma Thompson draw on their considerable talents to bring out their best, in a story that is a bit more feminist than might be excepted.

Fans of all things British, and particularly London in the punk ’70s, will find lots to like here, with street scenes and playful references, along with a spot-on soundtrack of mostly ’60s hits, including from the Zombies, Rolling Stones and the Animals.

Both Emma Stone and Emma Thompson are clearly having delicious fun playing these battling bad girls, to the delight of us in the audience. The combination of top-notch performances, with a clever script that samples from a number of sources, and wildly vibrant visuals, all packaged in a fast-paced, high-energy film makes this film a delight. The winning combination evokes both in the director’s previous film I TONYA and co-writer’s film THE FAVORITE.

CRUELLA is surprisingly fun, high-energy, creative romp that spills outside the boundaries of expectations for its premise. It opens Friday, May 28, at various theaters and streaming.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

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