Not long after her father's death, Lady Tremaine dismisses the servants, leaving only Ella to do their work. Taking advantage of Ella's hospitality, she persuades her to give up her room for Drisella and Anastasia, presumably temporarily, while Ella retires to the attic with only her mouse friends to keep her company. This new loss results in Lady Tremaine revealing her true cold, cruel, and jealous nature. His own daughter merely asks for the first branch that brushes against his shoulder on the way. Soon after, Ella's father goes abroad on business, promising his stepdaughters gifts of luxury. Ella welcomes her stepfamily warmly, despite the stepsisters' unpleasant attitudes and her needing to protect her mouse friends from her stepmother's cat, Lucifer. Years later, when Ella ( Lily James) is a teenager, her father (Ben Chaplin) marries Lady Tremaine ( Cate Blanchett), the widow of an old acquaintance, who has two daughters of her own, Drisella ( Sophie McShera) and Anastasia ( Holliday Grainger). On her deathbed, she makes Ella promise that she will always have courage and show kindness to others. Everything is perfect until her mother contracts an illness and dies. From a young age, she is taught by her mother ( Hayley Atwell) to believe in the existence of magic, allowing her to befriend many animals on the estate, particularly the mice. Ella (Eloise Webb) lives with her wealthy parents on a beautiful estate in a peaceful kingdom.
