Netflix’s School for Good and Evil loves fairy tales — and rips them apart

polygon.com:

The magic school concept was a tried-and-true trope long before the Harry Potter books revived the idea for a new generation of readers. Populating one of those schools with fairy-tale characters is also a popular trope, most recently seen in Disney’s Descendants movies. But whileNetflix’s new movie The School for Good and Evil does indulge all those beloved ideas in ways that might seem familiar, Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) treats the conventions with love and care, turning the movie into a compelling fantasy adventure.

Based on the first installment of Soman Chainani’s popular book series, Feig’s School for Good and Evil embraces the full fantasy of fairy tales while also interrogating the morality system behind them. Feig, who co-wrote the script with David Magee (Mary Poppins Returns, the upcoming live-action Little Mermaid), creates a dazzling world with loads of cool details, decadent visuals, and most importantly, two compelling characters and their complicated yet deep friendship. Designed to fit, then subvert and smash, archetypes, the two leads of The School for Good and Evil and their strong friendship turn the movie from fantastical fun to memorable delight.

[Ed. note: This review contains some setup spoilers for The School for Good and Evil.]

Fashionable Sophie (Sophia Anne Caruso) and sulky Agatha (Sofia Wylie) are both outcasts in their small village. Everyone calls Agatha a witch, because she’s sullen, she wears ragged, dark clothing, and her mother makes herbal remedies on the side. Meanwhile, Sophie comes from a poor family, but does her best to appear more glamorous and important than her station allows.

They’ve bonded over their shared misery, even though on the outside, disheveled Agatha and