‘Cinderella’ 2021 on Amazon Prime Video is a contemporary take on the namesake fairy that incorporates a strong sense of feminism and reaching for one’s dreams despite social norms.
The plotline of the movie follows Elle (Camila Cabello), an ambitious woman who aspires to become an affluent dressmaker and run her own business.
Just like the original Cinderella story, she lives with her stepmother and two stepsisters in the basement of their home, wherein she brings her dream of creating dresses to life.
On the other hand, Prince Robert (Nicholas Galitzine) wishes to be King but finds no interest in the affairs of the kingdom. However, his father, King Rowan (Pierce Brosnan), wants to get him settled and calls for a ball of all the maidens of the kingdom.
The Prince, as it goes, falls in love with Ella, who manages to come to the ball despite all hurdles. But things may not go the way they are meant to.
Will Ella fulfil her dreams of becoming a dressmaker, or will the royal life catch her fancy?
Cinderella ending explained in detail:
Reason behind Stepmother’s cruelty
Cinderella’s stepmother in all adaptations of this fairytale has been shown as a cruel person who cannot bear Cinderella happiness and favours her children over her.
This adaptation, as well, starts with her stepmother, Vivian (Idina Menzel), making her work as their maid and threatening her now and then of throwing her out of the house if she wills.
Ella, thus, stays within her limits, but her ambitious self gets in the way. When she wishes to sell the dress she created, Vivian warns her not to do anything of that sort since it does not pertain to social conduct.
Before the royal ball, she destroys the dress Ella makes and says that she has no reason to attend since she is already betrothed to another.
However, as the movie progresses, it opens up a vulnerable side to Vivian. Her cruelty gets a justification. She is not cruel out of spite but more about taming Ella’s wild, ambitious side, which she finds quite like herself.
She narrates how when she was young and married, she loved playing the piano and had was self-taught in this art. She once got an opportunity to learn it at the finest school of music.
She took the chance and went away to train for a month, leaving behind her husband and two children. However, when she returned, her husband was not pleased and said that “real wives didn’t act so frivolously”.
She soon learned that to be a woman in the world, her wings were of no use, and she could only be happy in society by being the wife of a rich man. She wishes the same for her girls and Ella and urges her to marry the Prince.
Royal decisions
The royal life was not the shiniest as it looked. Prince Robert had no intention of taking over the Kingdom as a dutiful king as he felt no attachment to it. On the other hand, the subject of marriage was an everyday affair in the royal household.
Meanwhile, the sister of the Prince, Princess Gwen (Tallulah Greive), shows the perfect enthusiasm and the capability to run the Kingdom. But she had no chance in the patriarchal society to even sit at the council’s table, let alone run the Kingdom.
Queen Beatrice, the Prince’s mother, was a talented painter, singer and a righteous queen but felt unappreciated by her husband and saw no place of authority when she was with the King. The love between them was somewhere lost.
However, things were about to change soon. After the mess at the Royal Ball, where Ella leaves the Ball without a trace, and a heated discussion with the Queen, King Rowen realises his mistake. He realises how narrow-minded he had become.
He frees the Prince from his royal duty as the Prince wishes and allows him to seek out his lady love. Princess Gwen becomes first in line for the succession of the throne, and the King wins back his Queen by performing a rather cheesy song in his not-so-great voice.
Ella’s future plans
Ella, who has forever wished to be a dressmaker, goes to the Ball dressed in a beautiful gown she had designed. She believed the making of the dress to be a wishful thing, but her Fabulous Godmother makes it come true with his magic.
She reaches the Ball in the hope of meeting the Prince, who had earlier discussed himself as a commoner, and approached her in the market. He had promised to help her find a prospective buyer to kickstart her business.
While she was roaming around the Ball, she meets a visiting queen who takes a fancy for her dress and offers her a deal – if she can show her more of Ella’s design and if she likes it, Ella can become her personal dressmaker and travel the world with her.
Ella is thrilled beyond words. The Prince locates her and asks her for a dance, after which he confesses his love to her. Ella rejects him and tells him about her dreams.
The Prince understands and helps her escape the Ball as the clock strikes 12.
However, the next day, her stepmother gets to know that she was the mystery girl the Prince fell in love with and tells her to go with the Prince and leave her unrealistic dream behind. Ella refuses, upon which she says that she has fixed her marriage to another man.
Ella agrees, but she escapes from the carriage with the help of her mice friends and rushes to the market square where she was supposed to meet the visiting queen.
She makes a run for it as time is running out but meets the Prince, who tells her that he has no desire to be the King if it means he can stay with her. Ella agrees to his proposal, and they go to meet the queen in the market.
The queen loves her designs and offers her the job. Later, Prince Robert introduces Ella to his parents, who accept the Prince’s decision to travel the world with Ella.
And they lived happily ever after—the End.
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