The School of Good and Evil was a refreshingly whack-a-doodle, fun film, with an easily understood plot and a vaguely good lesson. While, objectively the film is trash, it had a certain nostalgic charm, especially for those of us who grew up with such Disney classics as The Wizards of Waverly Place etc.
It has a jarring, weird modernity, despite the obviously medieval setting, that is both off-putting, but weirdly fun too, like knowingly breaking an inconsequential rule in a strict school and getting away with it. Overall, I liked it enough that I’m now reading the d*mn novel, so… what that says about me…
Trailer of The School of Good and Evil
Property of: Netflix
The Synopsis of The School of Good and Evil
So basically IMDB describes it as:
In the village of Gavaldon, two misfits and best friends, Sophie (Sophia Anne Caruso) and Agatha (Sofia Wylie), share the unlikeliest of bonds. Sophie, a golden-haired seamstress, dreams of escaping her dreary life to become a princess, while Agatha, with her grim aesthetic and offbeat mother, is a witch.
One night under a blood red moon, a powerful force sweeps them away to the School for Good and Evil – where the true stories behind every great fairy tale begin. Yet something is amiss from the start: Sophie is dropped into the School for Evil, run by the glamorous and acid-tongued Lady Lesso (Charlize Theron), and Agatha in the School for Good, overseen by the sunny and kind Professor Dovey (Kerry Washington). As if navigating classes with the offspring of the Wicked Witch (Freya Parks), Captain Hook (Earl Cave), and King Arthur (Jamie Flatters) wasn’t hard enough, according to the Schoolmaster (Laurence Fishburne), only true love’s kiss can change the rules and send the girls to their rightful schools and destiny.
But when a dark and dangerous figure (Kit Young) with mysterious ties to Sophie reemerges and threatens to destroy the school and the world beyond entirely – the only way to a happy ending is to survive their real life fairytale first.
The Good Points of The School of Good and Evil
While I am a self-proclaimed film critic, I’m an amateur, and can only judge the films by the scale of my enjoyment. In saying so, what I mean is that while sure that this movie is technically quite bad, I simply don’t have (or need) the education to know the details. I, myself, quite enjoyed watching it. I cringed through a few rough patches and laughed at the dumb story moments, as well as the weird romance, but, on the whole, I had a good time, which I believe is the whole purpose of a film in the first place.
In the end, the movie is so far removed from believability that it’s quirks become weirdly enjoyable. Strangely enough, I could see the rough outline of a gem underneath the flab of this movie (yes, I know I’m mixing metaphors, just run with it, you know what I mean!). I had the most fun imagining that, and sort of rewriting the script to be better while I was watching it, but maybe that’s just a me thing…
Setting
The weird juxtaposition of the modern language and attitude, versus the medieval setting is jarring but also kinda amusing. It kept me from being bored at the most expositiony parts of the movie.
Characters
While the acting is nothing to write home about, the characters have potential. Adding a little bit of depth to their motivations would have made them actually complex and relatable. It made me keep watching till the end to see if maybe, just maybe their intriguing premises lead anywhere (of course now we all know they didn’t, but that’s a separate issue).
The Bad Points of The School of Good and Evil
I believe I already enumerated these enough, but just for a quick round-up, the writing is lazy, the plot feels weirdly cramped, the acting is meh, the effects are sub-par and, the concluding theme is a cliche. It has a billionaire shopping list of defects, but overall, it’s fun.
Overall
It’s a shaky 5.5/10. Watchable for a laugh, Ina specific mindset, for a specific group of people.
Disclaimer: The School of Good and Evil
and all of its materials are owned by Netflix. We are merely using some of them in this post to illustrate a point (fair use). If you wish for your materials to be taken down please contact us and we will remove them immediately.
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