Cinderella

Plot synopsis:
In a beautiful kingdom, a little girl called Ella (Eloise Webb) lives a happy life in a lovely manor house with her doting parents. Her father (Ben Chaplin), a wealthy merchant, is often away on business trips, but always makes the most of his time with his family. Ella's mother (Hayley Atwell) encourages her to believe in magic, courage, kindness, and hope. Ella considers the resident farm animals to be her dear friends, and talks to them often.Ella and her father are grief-stricken when Ella's mother falls gravely ill. On her deathbed, she tells her daughter that power and magic stem from kindness, and to always "have courage and be kind."Over the next several years, Ella (now Lily James) carries on a comfortable life with her loving father, though they both miss her mother terribly. When her father announces his plan to remarry, Ella gives him her sincere blessing and hopes for his happiness in this new chapter of his life.Ella's new stepmother, Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett) is a stately widow with two daughters of Ella's age: Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drisella (Sophie McShera). The three women, along with their ill-tempered cat Lucifer, move into the manor house with Ella and her father. Lady Tremaine proves to be a prideful and cold woman with rather unsavory friends, while Anastasia and Drisella bicker constantly and only seem to bond over their disdain for Ella.Ella's father prepares to depart on another business trip, and asks Ella and her stepsisters what presents they would like him to bring back. While Anastasia and Drisella ask for parasols and lace, Ella merely requests the first branch that brushes her father's head as he travels. He bids her a loving farewell the following morning.No sooner had her husband departed, Lady Tremaine manipulates Ella into giving up her bedroom to Anastasia and Drisella. Ella is then relocated to the attic, where she finds that her mouse friends also reside. Despite this unjust development, Ella remains optimistic and continues to live by her mother's mantra: "Have courage and be kind."Some time later, Ella is given tragic news by a local farmer: her father had taken ill and died on his journey. The farmer gives Ella the branch she had requested, along with his condolences. Ella is heartbroken. Lady Tremaine is also upset, but for solely financial reasons. Resentful of her new husband for leaving them with no source of income, she takes out her rage on her stepdaughter. After dismissing all the household servants, Lady Tremaine shifts the entire workload to Ella, who is so miserable that she views the endless chores as almost welcome distractions from her grief.Ella's days of servitude grow increasingly dismal, as the shock of her father's death wears off and she realizes she no longer has a loving family. After a particularly cruel and hurtful incident (during which her stepfamily dubs her with the infamous nickname "Cinderella"), Ella rides her horse into the nearby woods to calm herself down. She encounters a stag, fleeing from an approaching hunting party, and her horse takes off in fright while Ella clings on for dear life . Her plight is noticed by the young prince (Richard Madden), out hunting with his men, who manages to stop her horse and introduces himself as Kit, an "apprentice" from the palace. While Ella is charmed by the handsome stranger, whom she does not recognize as the king's son, she scolds him for hunting a helpless animal and requests that he refrain from harming the stag. While taken aback at Ella's odd request, Kit is smitten with her compassionate spirit, but is called back by his hunting party before he can learn her name.Back at the palace, Prince Kit tells his father, the King (Derek Jacobi) about the pretty girl he met in the woods. While the King still insists that Kit must marry a princess for the good of the realm, he sympathizes with his son's desire to break the occasional tradition. However, as the King is growing increasingly ill, he believes that Kit must marry quickly and properly in order to take the throne in the near future. Kit reluctantly agrees to his father's wishes, which are seconded heartily by the king's right-hand man, the Grand Duke (Stellan Skarsgard), but suggests that the entire kingdom be invited to the upcoming palace ball instead of merely the nobility and upper-class. The King agrees, and Kit looks forward to possibly seeing Ella again. The captain of the royal guard (Nonso Anozie), who is also Kit's friend and confidante, encourages Kit's progressive thinking in spite of the King's opinions.As Ella buys groceries in the market square, the royal crier (Alex MacQueen) announces to the gathered public that a grand ball will soon be held at the palace so the prince may choose a bride, and that all eligible ladies in the kingdom are invited. Having never been to such a luxurious affair and hoping to see Kit the "apprentice" again, Ella is excited to learn that even the serving class is welcome to attend. She rushes home to relay the news to her stepfamily, who are overcome with anticipation. Lady Tremaine immediately plans for one of her daughters to win the prince's hand and bring riches to the family again. When Ella expresses interest in going to the ball, she is scoffed at and dismissed. Ella, still not disheartened, finds an old dress of her late mother's and begins to mend it herself in preparation for the event.On the evening of the ball, Anastasia and Drisella are decked out in their new gowns and are aflutter with excitement. Lady Tremaine is delighted that she has "two horses in the race," and is all but convinced that the family will soon be elevated to royal status. Ella descends the stairs in her mother's old dress, taking one more stab at attending the ball. Lady Tremaine and her daughters cruelly rip the dress to tatters, taunting Ella and forbidding her to accompany them. As the three women depart, Ella runs into the garden, weeping with rage and sadness.Ella is startled by an old beggar woman crouching in the corner of the courtyard who asks for a bit of nourishment. Despite her own misery, Ella kindly offers the woman a bowl of milk. To Ella's great surprise, the old lady transforms into a shimmering fairy and introduces herself as Ella's fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter). The fairy godmother wastes little time in transforming a pumpkin, Ella's mouse friends,a goose, and some lizards into a spectacular carriage, four while horses, a coachman, and footmen, respectively. Ella's ragged pink dress is spruced into a magnificent blue ball gown, and her worn-out shoes are replaced with a stunning pair of glass slippers. Ella is dumbfounded by her change in luck and is most grateful, but is warned by her fairy godmother that the spell will be broken at the last stroke of midnight and all will be as it was before. Ella promises to be home in time, and is sent off to the palace after receiving a charm that will prevent Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters from recognizing her.The ball is just underway as Ella arrives, with scores of princesses being introduced to the Prince and the King. When Ella appears on the ballroom balcony, the assembly goes silent and Kit recognizes the girl from the woods at once. He asks her for the first dance, which she gladly accepts, and the party officially begins. While Lady Tremaine sends her daughters into the fray to compete for the Prince, Kit and Ella sneak away to the castle grounds. Realizing that Kit is, of course, the Prince, Ella is a bit shocked, but upon getting to know him, sees he is an honest and caring man. He speaks of his inner conflict between pleasing his father, whom he loves and respects, and pursuing his own ambitions. Though having a marvelous time with Kit, Ella notices the clock beginning to strike twelve and hastily excuses herself. In her rush to leave the palace before the magic wears off, she loses one of her glass slippers on the palace steps. Kit sends the royal guard after her, determined to find out who she is, but Ella's goose coachman manages to evade them. At the last stroke of midnight, Ella's dress, coach, and attendants all return to their normal forms, although her one remaining glass slipper remains intact. She walks the rest of the way home, still giddy from her magical evening.When her stepfamily finally arrives home, Ella is still in a wonderful mood as the stepsisters talks of the beautiful "mystery princess" who stole the show at the ball. Lady Tremaine is angry after overhearing the Grand Duke say that the Prince was already promised to the Princess of Zaragosa, so the whole ball had been for naught. She is also suspicious as to why Ella is so cheerful after such a supposedly unpleasant evening alone at the house.The King is nearly dead, and finally gives Kit his blessing to marry for love, encouraging him to find the beautiful girl from the ball. Kit thanks his father and bids him a tearful farewell. Once made king, Kit immediately sends his men out to find the mystery princess so that he may marry her. All eligible women in the kingdom try on the glass slipper that Ella left behind on the palace steps, but it fits none of them.Having learned of the kingdom-wide sweep for the mystery princess, Ella rushes to her attic room to retrieve her remaining glass slipper, which she had hidden under the floorboards with her other treasured belongings. She is startled to find her stepmother waiting there for her, tauntingly displaying the slipper in her hand. Lady Tremaine finally reveals to Ella the source of her resentment: Lady Tremaine's first husband, whom she had married for love, met a premature death that forced his wife into the trials of single motherhood. After marrying Ella's father, she was left in the same predicament after his death. Despising the fact that she had to constantly look upon the beloved child of another man who had left her, Lady Tremaine channeled her rage and frustration onto Ella. Having deduced from the discovery of the slipper that Ella is the sought-after mystery princess, Lady Tremaine dashes the slipper to pieces against the wall and locks Ella in the attic alone.Lady Tremaine brings the remains of the slipper to the Grand Duke as proof that Ella, her "servant girl," is the mystery girl whom Kit loves. The treacherous Grand Duke, while feigning loyalty to Kit, had concocted a scheme with Lady Tremaine in order to force Kit to marry the Princess of Zaragosa: Lady Tremaine will keep Ella away from Kit, and in return will receive the title of Countess and prosperous marriage arrangements for her two daughters. Despite this plot, the Duke pretends to honor the new king's wishes by attending the royal guard as they search for the mystery princess.The last house in the kingdom to be visited by the royal guard is Ella's but she is still locked in her room when they arrive. Lady Tremaine shows the Captain and the Duke into the house, where Anastasia and Drisella unsuccessfully try on the intact glass slipper. The men prepare to leave, but are halted by the sound of singing from an upstairs window. Ella, in an attempt to keep her spirits up, is singing the lullaby her mother sang to her as a child. Lady Tremaine and the Grand Duke attempt to send the guards quickly on their way, but are shocked when one of the uniformed soldiers reveals himself to be King Kit in disguise. Kit orders the Captain to find the source of the singing.Lady Tremaine has no choice but to lead the Captain upstairs to Ella, but initially refuses to let Ella leave. The Captain reminds her that it is on the order of the King that Ella come downstairs. Lady Tremaine makes the shockingly false excuse that, as Ella's mother, she is only doing what is best for the girl. Ella angrily asserts that Lady Tremaine is not, and never will be, her mother. Ella follows the Captain downstairs.In the drawing room, Kit and Ella face each other as they truly are: a young king and a kindhearted farm girl. They promise to accept each other as they are. At last, Ella tries on the glass slipper, which fits perfectly and confirms her identity once and for all. Anastasia and Drisella, realizing their stepsister will soon be queen, make hasty apologies for their behavior, but Lady Tremaine is frozen with rage on the stairs. Before leaving the house with Kit and the guards, Ella offers her stepmother forgiveness.With their wicked plans found out, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, Drisella, and the Grand Duke are all banished from the kingdom. Ella and Kit are married, excitedly embarking on their new life together, with portraits of their respective late parents hanging side by side in the palace. The fairy godmother recounts how they went on to be kind, just, and beloved rulers, and that Ella continued to see the world not as it was, but as how it could be.

Tags: romantic, fantasy

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