Cruella | 2021 | PG-13 | – 1.5.2

Why is “Cruella” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some violence and thematic elements.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a dog attack, references to murder, the death of a woman, references to the abandonment of a child, several extravagant displays with some property damage, bullying, a building fire that is implied to have caused a woman’s death, many arguments and threats of violence, and language including name-calling and insults. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A live-action prequel revealing the origin of one of the more diabolical Disney characters, Cruella De Vil (Emma Stone). Aspiring to become a fashion designer, she’s traumatized when she is chased by three terrifying Dalmatians during a party, which results in her mania for murdering puppies to make coats. Also with Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, John McCrea, Emily Beecham, Mark Strong, Kayvan Novak and Kirby Howell-Baptiste. Directed by Craig Gillespie. [Running Time: 2:14]

Cruella SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A woman screams in childbirth and we see the infant held by its feet (we see the child’s bare back and buttocks). Women wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage in a few scenes. Dress forms are seen with the outlines of the female form. A man just out of the shower is shown with a towel wrapped around his waist (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back).

Cruella VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – Three large dogs charge toward a woman and knock her over a railing into raging waves below (we understand that she is dead) as a preteen girl watches in horror. A woman is gagged and tied into a chair as a man spreads a flammable liquid around the area and a woman lights a lighter and sets it on fire; the restrained woman tips over in her chair and as her dogs bark at her, she coughs and falls unconscious, and we hear that the woman died in the blaze. A woman pushes another woman off a cliff and we see her fall toward raging waves below (she does not die).
► A woman slashes a straight razor to cut off the sleeves of a dress and nicks a woman’s hand (we see blood). Several women are shoved and grabbed and led out of parties a few times; in one such scene, the women are tackled to the ground by security guards and one is held over the hood of a car. A man grabs a woman by the arm in a crowded party and the woman complains that her arm is broken; she then hits several guards with a stick. A man sprays a dog disguised as a rat with a cloud of what is implied to be pesticide and the dog lies on the floor motionless until the man picks it up by the long tail (it is pretending). Rats jump off a tray and onto a woman causing her to scream and many other people run and scream. Two men lash car doors closed with a woman inside the car as another woman climbs onto the roof of the car and poses wearing a long gown. A garbage truck dumps what looks like garbage on the ground, a woman stands up out of the garbage and climbs on the back of the truck as it drives away and we see that the garbage is part of her long gown. A woman drives a garbage truck into the entrance of a police station and speeds away while being chased by police cars that crash into other cars. A vault door is opened and many moths swarm out and around a crowded room leaving behind many gowns with holes in them. A dog knocks a taser out of a man’s hand and another man punches the man in the face before the dog jumps on the man’s face; he throws the dog across the room and someone else hits the man in the back of the head. Three dogs pull on their leashes and when released charge toward a woman standing on a cliff; they stop before reaching her.
► A woman says of another woman, “She killed my dogs and made a coat out of them,” as we see another woman wearing a coat with Dalmatian spots on it (she did not kill the dogs). Two men are gagged and tied into chairs before being led away by other men to be arrested. A woman says to another woman, “I’m going to kill you and your dogs.”
► A preteen boy shoves a preteen girl, and another preteen boy spits chewed gum on her face. A preteen girl shoves a boy to the ground and punches him while other children gather and cheer her on until she is pulled away and disciplined. A preteen girl is thrown over a railing and into a dumpster of garbage where she finds a small puppy. A preteen girl throws a dodgeball at a preteen boy and hits him in the groin causing him to fall to his knees. A preteen girl kicks a teen boy. A police officer chases three young people and they run through a dilapidated building, and jump through a hole in a roof landing on a pile of mattresses. A security guard holds a woman with her hands behind her back against a display case in a store. A woman becomes angry, throws a chair across a room hitting another woman in the leg, and tells her, “You are in the way.” A woman grabs a bottle of champagne away from a server in a restaurant, she opens it and the cork hits the server in the eye. A woman pokes another woman in the back with a hatpin as a distraction.
► After spilling champagne on a floor in a crowded party, a woman drops a match on the floor, igniting her gown that melts away revealing another gown under it (she is not harmed). A woman pulls a glass of champagne from a tower of glasses causing many to fall and shatter. A preteen girl sneaks into a large party by hiding under a food cart; her dog jumps out and runs through the party goers until three large dogs chase it and the girl, causing damage; a man grabs the girl and leads her out, but is distracted by the dog that bites his pant leg and the girl swings in the air on a swing as the three large dogs jump baring their teeth at her and chase her out of the area. A preteen girl runs along a roof and jumps into a moving garbage truck where she lands and is knocked unconscious. Two men climb down ropes into a fashion workroom and tip over dress forms trying to get the sleeping guard’s attention; one man plucks a nose hair from the guard’s nose waking him and they run away as the guard pushes the alarm.
► A woman berates everyone around her in many scenes throughout the movie. A man reprimands a woman and tells her to “bring a brain” to work the next day. Three people pickpocket many people on busses and crowded streets, they disguise themselves and steal from hotel rooms and other settings in several scenes. After the birth of a child, we understand that the mother has ordered the child to be taken away and that she tells her husband that the child died; we also hear that the man “wasted away.” A voice-over says, “That necklace is the reason I’m dead.” Three people talk about grifting. A woman says that another woman failed dismally as a mother. A man says, “Let’s go ruin someone’s day.” A woman is shown with the words “The Future” painted on her face. A woman fires a man. A woman says, “The queen is dead, long live the queen.” A woman says that she was “born bad and a little bit mad.” A woman tests a taser on a man and another woman and they stumble and fall; the woman says, “I could do this all day.” A man tells a dog, “You’re getting kissed right on the mouth. I don’t care where it’s been.” A small dog wears an eye patch and is named “Wink.”
► Three dogs chase a smaller dog out of a pet groomer and are taken away in the back of a van (we see them unharmed later). A woman steals a car and speeds through streets causing another car to swerve and crash into a phone box before pulling over. A man falls over a balcony onto a large multi-layered cake. A woman slams a bowl of food onto the floor and it breaks. Three dogs bark and snarl at two men, later the dogs are shown tearing up a sofa and the man is upset.
► A small dog disguised as a rat jumps on a security guard at a door and he screams and recoils. A garbage bag breaks over a woman’s head and she is splattered with messy garbage (we see a banana slice stuck to her face and her dress is stained); a man gags when the woman eats the banana slice. A woman screams in childbirth and we see the infant held by its feet and hear it crying. A toddler, a child, a teen and a woman are shown with part white and part black hair. A preteen girl dyes her hair and the dye dribbles down onto her face. A young woman scrubs bathroom floors on her hand and knees and coughs and gags over a toilet while scrubbing it. A woman throws a box with food in it out the window of a moving car. A dog swallows a necklace and three people wait for the dog to pass it, monitoring its bowel movements. A dog defecates and we hear a plop (we do not see feces).

Cruella LANGUAGE 2

 – 1 mild scatological term, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (unfortunate, skunk, horrible children, orphan, stupid, scallywags, thief, fugitive, vandals, grubby girl, terrible boss, narcissist, bad dog, provocateur, diabolical, fool, nightmare, ludicrously, no shame, liar, puppy killer, villain, incompetent, understatement, sad, bitterness, risky, idiot, plain little thing, animals, absurd, devil, vandal, psycho, losers, gossip, old rag, old hag, trouble, normal, Cinderella, short, fat, smell like an anchovy, dried up desiccated brain, pasty, unhinged, snowflake, posh people, vicious, hideous freak), exclamations (oi, shhh, come here, what, blah blah blah, cool, groovy, out, whoa, cripes, chill, hey, oh man, pssst, no, ah, right, OK, oh blimey), 3 religious exclamations (e.g. God, Oh For Heaven’s Sake, Oh My God). | profanity glossary |

Cruella SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man drinks a glass of sherry in his office, a woman drinks from a bottle of sherry and is seen passed out later, and a woman says that she needs a drink and we see her and another woman drinking champagne.

Cruella DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Grief, death of a parent, psychopathy, being different, fashion, wealth, regret, coincidence, revenge, 5 stages of grief, power, embezzlement, imbeciles, happy accidents, stealing, bullying, greed, poetic justice, lying.

Cruella MESSAGE

 – The pursuit of revenge changes people, and not in a good way.