The School for Good and Evil is a fairytale fantasy fiction movie directed by Paul Feig and produced by Paul Feig, Laura Fischer, Jeff Kirschenbaum, Jane Startz, and Joe Roth, also the cinematographer, John Schwartzman. It has a cast full of prominent actors including Sophia Anne Caruso, Sophia Wylie, Jamie Flatters, Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Michelle Yeoh, and Kit Young. Takes place in a world full of imagination and dream like fantasy that is adapted from the 2013 novel by Soman Chainani. 

In the domain of The School for Good and Evil two unlikely friends, one seen as a princess the other a witch. Sophie, the beauty with the long stunning hair hoping to find her true meaning in the world and escape from an ordinary life in Gavaldon, the village where they live. While there’s Agatha, thought to just stay in Gavaldon being the unlikeable, revolting witch everyone calls her. Then, Sophie’s wish is heard and swept away to the dream she has been waiting for, but not alone. Trying to save Sophie from leaving, Agatha gets dragged into the aspiration of her friends

dream just to protect her. They see the School for Good and Evil as an enchanted institution , but at that moment the unspeakable happens. The gloomy, haughty Agatha goes into the School for Good, while the cheerful, loving Sophie goes into the School for Evil. Although with the odds stacked against them, they still try to find an escape from this dreamy fantasy, but some intentions may not be as pure. With the suspensefulness of everything coming to light, friends may not withhold the destruction yet to come or they may.

This movie is based on a book published in 2013 selling more than 3.5 millions copies worldwide with several languages. Although there were some differences between the book and the movie. In the book characters have a specific look that makes readers understand right away which one is that, but the actors did not go into the full extent of appearances that would have added a much better effect on the movie. Even though in the movie the semblance for the cast did not match the book, most of the actors made up for it with their performance and a chance to fully become the character. In another case, there were scenes that were missing, changed or overlooked and not as important as it was in a book. After all, in the book one of those scenes was when one of the main leads finally became confident in herself and her inner beauty that she let the world to, but was completely disregarded in the movie. Another one was the two completely different endings, choice or no choice at all. 

The costume design is subtle and can be missed, but it adds such an impact to the characters. The movie’s main topics are good and evil. While the two schools may seem like the only thing to distinguish between the students it is not the only one. For the students in the school for good, the girls wear bright beautiful dresses suited for soon to be princesses and the boys wear princely tunics. On the contrary, for the students in the school for evil they wear torn up dark, grave like costumes that make their lethal intentions. Though for Agatha and Sophia in 

a place they do not belong it helps portray that with the costume design. Take the case of Agatha when Gavaldon wears clothes two sizes too big for her and her unruly hair that characterizes her as evil. When she came into the school for good and changed her appearance to match the other girls with a giant ball gown that only makes her uncomfortable and exposes her. The costume can change the way a character seems like if it is their true selves or just another facade.

The whole movie was one giant fairy-tale most would want to be a part of. The cinematographer,  John Schwartzman, did a beautiful job at the camera angles and movements when capturing actors features that make their character really be seen. It is always a challenge to do a great movie when there is a book with so much detail in it. Of course there will not be scenes in the film that goes into depth and truly understand the characters’ relationships. The designs of the schools and

the costumes are immaculate while presenting so much without overdoing it. Although, The School for Good and Evil had an amazing plot, exceptional artistry and imagination that went into creating this, but there were times that felt something was absent from the film. Even then, The School for Good and Evil would be a tremendous choice with a star rating of 3, but from experience, do not read the book before watching.