Fantasy Elements in 'The School for Good And Evil'

The School For Good and Evil is a 2022 fantasy film directed by Paul Feig, which focuses on best friends Sophie and Agatha who navigate an enchanted school. Based on the 2013 novel of the same name, this Netflix movie brings fantasy elements to life, as there is magic, heroes, and villains. The film opens with a narration about Sophie and Agatha, two different girls who become best friends and stick with each other no matter what. Sophie is the girl with blonde hair and has an obsession with fairy tales while Agatha is the girl with dark curls and dark skin who is a misfit in her hometown.

The events of The School For Good and Evil are told in narration. Storian is an unseen character who tells the story to the viewers in the third person. Heroes and villains exist in this universe, but not in unison. The good and evil students are placed in separate seating areas in many scenes. Sophie discovers the villain school has a gloomy, gothic theme. Agatha discovers the hero’s school has a colorful, upbeat theme. Sophie becomes an outcast at the villain school because of her blonde hair and fairy-tale personality. Agatha becomes an outcast at the hero’s school because people judge her as a witch.

There is a strong representation of women and African Americans in The School For Good and Evil, as Agatha (Sofia Wylie) and Professor Dovey (Kerry Washington) are African American actresses. Many actors who play major and supporting roles are women. In one scene where Sophie and Agatha are together in the high tower where their story is written in a magic book, Agatha makes references to other fairy tale characters.

The main storyline of this movie is that the heroes and villains are each other’s rivals. Also, Sophie and Agatha’s friendship is put to the ultimate test when the two girls are literally separated into two different schools. Since the two girls are placed on two different sides of the battle, they both struggle to save their friendship. The magical elements in The School For Good and Evil have strong references to the Descendants movie, produced by Walt Disney. Other fantasy elements include transformations from humans into other magical beings.

The conclusion of the movie has a surprising twist for the viewers. While it seems that the heroes and villains reconcile, the two schools are merging into one, and Sophie and Agatha reconnect with each other, an arrow and a mysterious knife pierce the veil between worlds, resulting in a cliffhanger. The arrow and knife are fired by Tedros, as Tedros pleads he needs Agatha. The cliffhanger is indicated by Storian’s line “this is only the beginning”. Viewers are curious to see how the story continues; whether Sophie and Agatha’s friendship remains the same is a mystery.

Therefore, The School For Good and Evil has a cliffhanger ending, a strong representation of women and African Americans, and fantasy elements.