Cinderella

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kay Cannon directs. Henry Braham behind the camera. Mychael Danna scores. Stacey Schroeder cuts. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 5 years ago.
• 2International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
• 3Directed by Kay Cannon, shot by Henry Braham. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Mychael Danna. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Stacey Schroeder shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Camila Cabello and Nicholas Galitzine and Idina Menzel carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "One shoe to rule them all.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt10155932 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 10 themes, including "musical", "evil stepmother", "woman director", "fairy godmother".

The technical file

Cinematography

Henry Braham

Original score

Mychael Danna

Editing

Stacey Schroeder

Production design

Paul Kirby

Costume design

Ellen Mirojnick

Makeup / hair

Andrea Cracknell

VFX supervisor

Keith Sellers

Sound

Kevin O'Connell

Stunt coordinator

Andy Bennett

Runtime

112 min · 1h 52m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$42,494

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG

IMDB

Cinderella (2021) ↗

Also by

Kay Cannon

• 
  Blockers

  2018 · ★ 6.3

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  First 8 Minutes

  Clip · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Official First Look

  Teaser · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• CinemaSerf2022-03-27
  ★ 5/10

  I tried, I really did! I hoped that the fairly decent, experienced, ensemble cast coupled with state of the art visual effects and a collection of modern-day pop lyrics would breathe new life into this timeless story. Well, sadly, that was all just a triumph for optimism over, well, just about anything... It's terrible. Good looking, well produced, but terrible. Am I the only person left alive who is fed up being shouted at by Edina Menzel? Pierce Brosnan demonstrated in "Mamma Mia" (2008) that he is happy to play parts with his tongue in his cheek, but here I fear he must have cringed when he saw; likewise Minnie Driver and a whole host of British comedians led by the ubiquitously un-talented James Corden. Billy Porter tries a different take on the fairy godmother character but features all to sparingly to make much impact on an otherwise extremely pedestrian interpretation that reached it's nadir with the cute but totally wooden pairing of Nicholas Galitzine (Freddie Mercury would spin in his grave) and Camila Cabello. Sorry, maybe if I were 6 years old and had nothing to compare this with, I'd not be so harsh - but I'm not and this is poor, really poor...

  Read full review ↓
• tmdb280390232022-09-05
  ★ 1/10

  Cinderella is a jukebox musical, based on a classic fairy tale, with CGI animals, and the now obligatory ethnically diverse cast (though oddly relegated to the extras; all of the main characters, with one exception that we'll get to later — and that's certainly not Camila Cabello —, are of the Caucasian persuasion. It's like, how much more lazy could this writing be? And the answer is none. None more lazy. To put it in perspective, Lin-Manuel Miranda's so-called songs from Hamilton or In the Heights are all over the place, but at least he sat down and committed them to paper himself (and you can tell from the result that he did without any help at all). Conversely, what we have here is the worst of two worlds: on the one hand, covers so watered down they constitute sonic homeopathy, and on the other, original songs so bland that they make the covers sound good in comparison. As bad as, say, Rocketman is, at least it's a jukebox musical that makes sense; after all, one expects to hear Elton John songs in an Elton John biopic. This of course doesn't change the fact that, should I want to listen to John's version of “Pinball Wizard”, I'm going to watch Tommy, not Rocketman. By the same token, if I want to see a Cinderella musical, the gold standard is still the 1950 Disney version, which contains original, plot-relevant songs that they were written expressly for the film — as opposed to a glorified playlist that fails miserably at the two most important functions a song has in a musical: moving the story forward and developing the characters (how exactly a medley of “Whatta Man” and “Seven Nation Army” is going to accomplish either of those things, I haven’t the foggiest) — especially considering that YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, etc. allow me to easily enjoy the superior, genuine article performed by the artists who wrote and/or recorded it in the first place. As for the exception to the 'inclusive' cast that I mentioned above, it's the Fabulous Godmother; played with overflowing exuberance by Billy Porter; this is the only character endowed with a life of its own, something for which the actor, and not the script or the director, deserves exclusive credit. The rest — even (sigh) Pierce Brosnan and Minnie Driver — are so opaque and forgettable that they might as well have been as computer generated as the animals

  Read full review ↓
• Alunauwie2025-09-26
  ★ 8/10

  Inspired by the Cinderella tale, this film offers a modern twist focused on gender equality, portraying Ella as a strong, independent woman rather than a helpless victim. It redefines traditional roles—like a caring stepmother, flawed prince, and even a male fairy godparent—to support its empowering message. While the film's bold differences disappointed some viewers, it remains a thought-provoking and watchable reimagining, best appreciated when seen as Ella’s story, not a retelling of the classic fairytale. Read the full review here: (Indonesian version : alunauwie.com)

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Fulwell 73 Productions

  GB

• 

  Columbia Pictures

  US

Key crew

• EditorStacey Schroeder
• Production DesignPaul Kirby
• Costume DesignEllen Mirojnick
• Sound EditorMalte Bieler
• Sound Re-Recording MixerKevin O'Connell
• Supervising Sound EditorAi-Ling Lee
• Sound Re-Recording MixerAi-Ling Lee
• Sound Effects EditorDan Kenyon
• Sound DesignerTobias Poppe
• Sound DesignerAi-Ling Lee
• Supervising Sound EditorMildred Iatrou
• PropsKevin Day
• Assistant Art DirectorCorrine Silver
• Visual Effects SupervisorKeith Sellers
• VFX ArtistKate Xagoraris
• VFX ArtistTarun Malla
• VFX ArtistTara Mason
• Assistant Art DirectorChloe Kletsa
• Set CostumerChloe Reynolds
• Costume SupervisorSanaz Missaghian
• Set CostumerMia Hope Radford
• Set DresserJames Flanagan
• Visual Effects SupervisorBrooke Lyndon-Stanford
• Pre-Visualization SupervisorMartin Bell

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• musical
• evil stepmother
• woman director
• fairy godmother
• human becoming an animal
• happy ending
• cinderella
• jukebox musical
• cinderella story
• romantic fantasy

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2021-09-03PG
• Digital2021-09-03PG· Prime Video
• Physical2022-06-21PG

Also known as

International titles

• CenicientaES
• CenicientaMX
• 辛德瑞拉CN