The school for good and evil

Year of release : 2022

 

Run time : 2h27min

 

Genre : Fantasy / Horror

 

Cast : Charlize Theron, the voice of Cate Blanchett

 

 

The movie is based on the book by Soman Chainani.

 

Sophie and Agatha are best friends.

Sophie wants to be a princess, she dreams to be rescued from her step family who hate her.

Agatha lives with her sick mother at the town limits. People hate her for they think her a witch.

 

They are both hated by the people of Gavaldon.

 

Hearing a story about a girl being taken away from Gavaldon to the school of Good and Evil, Sophie makes a wish to be whisked away too.

Her dream comes true fast, as a demon-like entity comes and takes her, but Agatha tries to rescue her, so a sort of wooden bird comes and takes them both.

It drops Sophie in the Evil school and Agatha in the Good school.

 

The girls keep on saying they don't belong, Sophie in the School of Evil, Agatha in that place.

The teachers tell them there are no mistakes.

 

Agatha soon hears things aren't peachy in this school,as they can't go back home,ever, and,whoever fails three tests, is turned into something else! And all this seems normal to the good ones.

 

Not to mention, the girls in the Good School are shallow,mean, and act exactly like today's popular kids,treating Agatha badly.

 

 

In Good School, Agatha finds out girls are taught how to be fairy tale princesses, and how to put make-up on. Rolling my eyes.

In Evil School, Sophie is taught how to make potions, how to channel her power,and how to embrace ugliness. It seems the Evil ones are trained to be powerful,while the Good ones to be weak and stupid.

 

Sophie sets her eye on one of the princes,King Arthur's son,who is brave, and who has his father's sword.

Agatha agrees to help her get him. Problem is, when she gets him,due to the school's policies of no interactions with the other school, they are tested, and Sophie thinks the princess wouldn't and shouldn't help the prince, but wait to be rescued.

 

Slowly but surely,we discover the reason Sophie was brought there was to unleash evil across the land.

 

 

SPOILERS

 

Sophie is weak , and fast caves into her dark side,as she wants power,people to like her and love her. She falls away from Agatha,who the whole movie is trying to save her and prove herself to her.

 

Sophie is unlikeable, and a mean girl. After the things she's done, the only way to redeem herself was death. I hated the fact she was brought back through Agatha's tears and true love's kiss (yeah! Agatha actually kisses her on the lips!)!

Also, Agatha chooses her over the prince (whom she was in love with) because today friendship is more important than the love of a significant other,and is said to be the same thing,don't you know!

 

Sophie and the evil one, Rafal, talk about their true love's kiss to bring the end of the world, but I didn't know they were in love! When did that happen?!

 

I liked Agatha, I liked she helped the prince,I liked the fact the prince was truly good,and saw the beauty in Agatha( although,he went for Sophie.. he came back to Agatha after she helped him/ saved him). He got over Sophie really fast,as she froze and refused to help him against a demon.

 

The acting was fine most of the time, I thought the evil ones were over reacting / acting,especially in the what was supposed to be epic battle scene.

The prince, Jamie Flatters, by his real name, kinda looks like Henry Cavill to me.

 

The soundtrack was so and so, the songs chosen didn't match the movie,as the movie is set in the past, and they play modern songs about modern day things!

They play a cover of Britney's Toxic while they have what is supposed to be an epic fight, the kind Neo has with Agent Smith at the end of the Matrix ,and it really doesn't match and distracts people's attention !

 

The costumes were ugly, I only liked 2 dresses Agatha wore! I hated Charlize's outfit and Michelle's Yeoh's.

 

The movie reeks of diversity( I even saw a girl in a wheelchair!),and I just might be done with Netflix and Hollywood movies,and just watch foreign ones. Rafal was white with white hair, and Agatha was white with short straight black hair in the books. If it was the other way around, the colored characters to be switched to white, we'd never hear the end of it!

 

The movie is a Netflix original and can be found on the platform.

 

Rating : Could have been a contender !