Cinderella Parent Guide

We all think we know Cinderella – the sweetly obedient girl who lives with her bullying stepmother (Idina Menzel) and insecure stepsisters (Maddie Baillio and Charlotte Spencer). Be prepared: this movie does not feature the passive girl of yore. This Cinderella (Camila Cabello) wants to be a dressmaker and she’s doing everything she can to make her dreams come true. Sketched designs cover the cellar walls and gowns take shape on dress forms. When a handsome young man persuades her to attend an upcoming royal ball, the big draw for her is the chance to meet potential clients. But Cinderella doesn’t know that the man urging her to come has ulterior motives…

Prince Robert (Nicholas Galitzine) is desperate to spend time with the spunky commoner who attracted his attention by sassing his father, stuffy King Rowan (Pierce Brosnan). Convinced that this girl is the bride he’s dreamed of, he plans to sweep her off her feet at the ball. But Cinderella isn’t sure that trading the narrow walls of a cellar for a gilded palace cage is an upgrade.

This plot could be a fun twist on the story, but Cinderella is less a fairytale and more a feminist fable. The movie relentlessly hammers home its message, to the point that the moral overwhelms the plot. And that’s unfortunate. I believe wholeheartedly in gender equality but even I got sick of the script’s hammer blows. When policy wonk Princess Gwen (Tallulah Greive) complained that her father wouldn’t even give her “a seat at the table”, I cringed. When I saw palace maids dressed in the red dresses and white caps of dystopian handmaids, I rolled my eyes. And when Queen Beatrice (Minnie Driver) delivered a polemic against unchecked male power, I sighed. The maxim for successful writing, “show don’t tell”, is repeatedly ignored in Cinderella, to the point that the story feels preachy and the fun drains away.

Relentless lecturing is only the most glaring of the film’s flaws. The costumes are a mishmash of styles and historical eras that look confused rather than eclectic. The overall effect is of a wardrobe purchased at a thrift store and thrown randomly at the cast. The music is also weak, with voices that too often sound auto-tuned and rap numbers that don’t really gel. There’s even a gospel choir which acts like a Greek chorus – I love cultural diversity but this is just plain weird. The movie is at least half an hour too long and the excessive song and dance numbers account for much of that bloat.

Also off-putting is the film’s negative content. I was surprised by the profanity in the movie – eight terms of deity and some minor crude language – but I was even more startled by the script’s sexual innuendo. Sex is discussed in coded language as is male genitalia, which is not the norm for a kid’s film. Parents with traditional views of sexuality will also be unhappy with the cross-dressing Fabulous Godmother (Billy Porter), although those with contemporary attitudes might find the campy performance entertaining.

Cinderella’s failures are all the more frustrating because a reworking of the tale is long overdue – and having a Latina Cinderella headlining a diverse cast is icing on the cake. Generations of kids have idolized the sweet passive girl whose problems are solved when she marries a prince. A story that allows her to chase her own dreams and have control over her fate really is a happily ever after ending.