It starts a little earlier than the animated movie and it shows the happiness of a couple and their daughter Ella (Lily James). When Ella is still a child, her mother gets ill and, before passing away, tells her daughter that she should “have courage and be kind”, which will be repeated countless times thorough the film (to the point that it gets a little annoying). So she takes that sentence as a personal motto for her life.

Years later, Ella’s father decides to get married again and his new wife, Lady Tremaine (the wonderful Cate Blanchett), comes to live with them and brings her two daughters. Ella’s father goes away on a business trip and dies on his way back. And that’s when Ella’s suffering really begins. With no source of income to support the family anymore, Ella’s stepmother dismisses all the employees and puts the stepdaughter as her maid and sends her to sleep in the attic. Since Ella is constantly covered with ashes (cinders), her stepsisters Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drizella (Sophie McShera) decide to call her Cinderella.

The movie is a little different than the old version, with Cinderella meeting the Prince (Richard Madden) before the ball, even though she doesn’t know who he really is.

The costumes are beautiful and it’s interesting to see that they kept Cinderella’s animals friends in this version (mainly mice). They also brought back the cat Lucifer and they managed to make him as obnoxious as I remembered from the old version. The familiar songs also appear a only little bit in the background but are fully played only during the credits.

Lily James is a good Cinderella, but Cate Blanchett really steals the show as her Stepmother. Moreover, Helena Bonham Carter’s participation as the Fairy Godmother is also amusing. It’s definitely worth watching, especially to those who love the animated version.