Cinderella (2015)

Cinderella: Directed by Kenneth Branagh. With Cate Blanchett, Lily James, Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter. When her father unexpectedly dies, young Ella finds herself at the mercy of her cruel stepmother and her scheming stepsisters. Never one to give up hope, Ella’s fortunes begin to change after meeting a dashing stranger.

“Although this is about the stepmother, I want to first say that I found all the characters well portrayed and supported by an excellent script, cinematography, and of course a great director. I scanned some of the user reviews and for all those giving a very low rating it seems to me that they missed the essence of Cinderella – it is not supposed to be an action nor hard/boiled tale that apparently even some children want today and should not become such.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI particularly appreciated the stepmotheru0026#39;s portrayal because it included clear justification for her anger and bitterness. Not to say given that justification she was correct to have done what she did. But a worthy lesson for us and particularly for children.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe specific scene I am referring to is when she overhears her husband telling his daughter how much he misses her mother, i.e., where is the love and support she desires – a more modern understanding of the difficulty of joining an existing family. This and other related scenes gives the stepmother a depth that makes her more real in place of the one-dimensional cartoon version – but what a joy that version was for me many years ago.”