This is an EXCELLENT movie! Honestly, I’m scandalized at the low-key reception it’s received. Maybe the market is too saturated with fantasy right now? Maybe this one wasn’t “edgy” enough?
But if you like fantasy, or a mixture of character/plot-based movies, then this is a definite must-see! I laughed, I cried, and I had deep thoughts. What more can I ask for?
Movie: Netflix’s The School for Good and Evil
Rating: PG-13
Myrmigrade: 
The Plot
The movie is about best friends Sophie and Agatha who live in a small, medieval-esque village. The villagers make fun of them, and Agatha is accused of being a witch. However, it is Sophie who longs to escape the most – specifically to the School of Good and Evil. She feels she’s the perfect “princess candidate.”
Thinking that’s not a real possibility, she runs away. Agatha intercepts her and tries to convince her not to go. As they’re arguing, a (terrifyingly spooky) smoke monster pulls them to a clearing, where a (slightly less spooky) bird carries them away to the school.
****Slight spoiler below, but it’s within the first 30ish minutes of the movie****
Much to the surprise of both, Agatha is dropped in the School for Good, while Sophie is dropped in the School for Evil. Neither are happy about this, however their ways of solving it are different. Agatha’s goal is to get home, whereas Sophie’s goal is to switch schools. In the process, they encounter an evil that has been slowly growing over the centuries and threatens the existence of both schools.
The Good and the Bad (Evil?)
It’s a fun ride, and the movie does a good job of developing the characters, world-building, and moving the plot along. I honestly don’t have anything bad to say about it, so I was quite shocked when Plugged In and Common Sense Media were rather harsh toward it. (Especially when Common Sense Media gave it a 4/5 for violence. Like…really? The most recent Batman is also a 4/5, and it is FAR more disturbing in various aspects.)
Any of my “bad points” center on the depiction of “good” seeming frivolous and shallow – which is actually part of the plot. There are definitely some aspects of the world that aren’t explained as clearly as I’d like, but those are probably (hopefully) explained in the books (which I have not read – yet!).
Where’s God in this Movie?
One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Agatha is asked if she thinks Sophie is truly good. Her answer should be yes – because only people who are truly good can be in the School for Good. But Agatha’s answer is no – because no one is truly good. “People are complicated,” she says.
There are lots of amazing things about the Bible, but honestly one of the things I can’t get over is how realistic the people are. None of them (except Jesus) are truly good. They’re complicated.
But Christians don’t often allow for that. We put the people of the Bible into the categories of “good” and “bad,” and their complicated faiths are ignored.
Look at Martha. Everyone talks about how she didn’t put Jesus first (Luke 10:38-42), but no one remembers her incredible statement of faith (John 11:17-27). Everyone remembers Thomas is a doubter (John 20:24-25), but no one remembers his incredible loyalty to Jesus in the face of death (John 11:16).
And then there’s like ALLLLL the people in Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, etc. We can go on and on about Samson, David, and the like. They give us examples of profound faith; and examples of profound depravity.
The Bible is not a moralistic fairy tale. It is a collection of true stories of how real, complicated people grappled with their faith – and sometimes failed. They are not truly good, nor truly evil. They’re complicated.
And complicated people make mistakes. They need to be given grace and forgiveness for their failings, as well as the opportunity to change when they fail big.
The people in this movie got that; I should hope that Christians would be among the first to grant that in real life to the people around them.
