The School for Good and Evil on Netflix: Reviews, release date and time

Sofia Wylie as Agatha, Michelle Yeoh as Professor Emma Anemone, and Kerry Washington as Professor Dovey in The School for Good and Evil

(Image credit: Picture Lux/The Hollywood Archive/Future)

last updated 26 October 2022

Two best friends are kidnapped and taken to a mysterious school - in trying to make their way home, their friendship is tested like never before.

For fans of epic fantasy and a stellar cast bringing a great story to life, Netflix has delivered The School for Good and Evil. The tale follows two best friends sent to an elite academy responsible for training the heroes and villains of future fairy tales. It has been brought to screens by Bridesmaids director Paul Feig and written by David Magee - the cast is just as exciting as the plot (featuring Michelle Yeoh and Kerry Washington). With such an exciting premise, there are high hopes the film will deliver for those excited to watch it. Read on to find out what the critics are saying about the highly anticipated movie, and exactly which date and time it can be seen.

For those wondering what The School for Good and Evil is based on, we have this and other burning questions answered. Also on Netflix, mystery thriller Luckiest Girl Alive based on a real-life harrowing story, is making waves. The film starring Mila Kunis is set in New York - Luckiest Girl Alive filmed across multiple locations, but were any of them the Big Apple?

The School for Good and Evil: Reviews

The critics do not appear to be huge fans of The School for Good and Evil. However, the audience are enjoying the film according to early reviews.

Ian Sandwell from Digital Spy offered the film 2 out of 5, saying “The School for Good and Evil is an exposition-heavy two hours-plus of set-up, intended to lay the foundations for the inevitable sequels, that forgets to be a compelling movie in its own right”.

John Nugent from Empire was especially unimpressed, offering the film only 1 star. Without holding back, he said “It’s genuinely hard to find redeeming features. Some of the acting is more befitting of a bad panto. The CGI is often ugly. The visuals are a chaotic mish-mash of styles. The dialogue is cacklingly cheesy. The magic is simultaneously over-explained and ill-defined. The make-up equates facial disfigurement with moral wickedness. The runtime is, unforgivably, two-and-a-half hours”.

However, the film currently holds an 86% audience score on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. One audience member wrote “this movie was absolutely wonderful you didn't even notice the length. It was NOT boring, it had great plot twists and an amazing cast. I am mad that I watched it when it came out, because now I have to wait so long for the second one”.

Another added “I've been waiting to see this movie for months and it did not disappoint. It was better than I expected and I expected it to be amazing - I highly recommend it. I might have to read the book series if they don't make a sequel, and it was very nice to see some of my favourite actors in another movie”.

Jamie Flatters as Tedros and Sofia Wylie as Agatha in The School For Good And Evil.

The School for Good and Evil: Netflix release date and time

The School for Good and Evil will be released on Netflix on Wednesday October 19, 2022, at 8am in the UK.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly about the film, director Paul Feig said “I'm always looking for female friendship stories – those are my favourite movies to make - and I've also always wanted to create a world, and I've never really had a chance to do that. I got to scratch the surface of it with Ghostbusters, but that was still our world. So this just had everything I wanted”.

He added “I think it so speaks to the way that the world is right now. Somehow we've gotten into this very divided place where you're either on my side or you're against me, and you're terrible and I'm good. It was really inspiring and I won't say easy, but we fed off the creativity of what's happening in this world, and with the hopes that we can, through the world of fantasy, make our statement on that”.

Kerry Washington as Professor Dovey, Charlize Theron as Lady Lesso in The School for Good and Evil.

What age is The School for Good and Evil movie for?

The School for Good and Evil is rated PG-13, meaning it may be unsuitable for those under the age of 13. It was given this age rating due to occasional scenes depicting violence, and some frightening images.

According to the BFI, a PG-13 rating is the US equivalent of a UK 12A. It was introduced in 1984 after concerns PG-rated films such as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Gremlins, were too violent for younger audiences and warranted a classification of their own. Therefore PG-13 is stronger than PG, with parents advised films carrying that rating could be unsuitable for those under thirteen.

The School for Good and Evil: Plot

The official synopsis of The School for Good and Evil reads "In the village of Gavaldon, two misfits and best friends, Sophie and Agatha, share the unlikeliest of bonds. Sophie, a golden-haired seamstress, dreams of escaping her dreary life to become a princess, while Agatha, with her grim aesthetic and offbeat mother, has the makings of a real witch.

One night under a blood-red moon, a powerful force sweeps them away to the School for Good and Evil – where the true stories behind every great fairy tale begin. Yet something is amiss from the start: Sophie is dropped into the School for Evil, run by the glamorous and acid-tongued Lady Lesso, and Agatha in the School for Good, overseen by the sunny and kind Professor Dovey.

As if navigating classes with the offspring of the Wicked Witch, Captain Hook, and King Arthur wasn’t hard enough, according to the Schoolmaster, only true love’s kiss can change the rules and send the girls to their rightful schools and destiny.

But when a dark and dangerous figure with mysterious ties to Sophie re-emerges and threatens to destroy the school and the world beyond entirely – the only way to a happy ending is to survive their real-life fairytale first".

Sofia Wylie as Agatha and Sophia Anne Caruso as Sophie in The School For Good And Evil

The School for Good and Evil: Cast

Sofia Wylie (Andi Mack, Spiderman: Maximum Venom) as Agatha
Sophia Anne Caruso (Strangers, Evil) as Sophie
Michelle Yeoh (Crazy Rich Asians, Everything Everywhere All At Once) as Prof. Emma Anemone
Kerry Washington (Scandal, Little Fires Everywhere) as Prof. Clarissa Dovey
Charlize Theron (Mad Max, Tully) as Lady Leonora Lesso
Lawrence Fishburne (Apocalypse Now, John Wick) as the School Master
Jamie Flatters (The Forgotten Battle, Black Dog) as Tedros
Kit Young (Shadow and Bone) as Rafal/Rhian
Cate Blanchett (The Aviator, Blue Jasmine) as the narrator/voice of the Storian
Patti LuPone (Hollywood, Penny Dreadful) as Mrs. Deauville
Rob Delaney (Catastrophe, Deadpool) as Stefan
Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Trolls World Tour) as Honora
Earl Cave (Born to Kill, The End of The F***ing World) as Hort
Freya Theodora Parks (Here We Go) as Hester
Demi Isaac Oviawe (The Young Offenders) as Anadil
Mark Heap (Benidorm, Friday Night Dinner) as Professor Bilious Manley

Sofia Wylie and Sophia Anne Caruso who play Agatha and Sophie, spoke to Netflix Tudum about creating chemistry for their on-screen characters. Wylie said "Through spending time together on and off set, we just grew a natural friendship which helped translate on-screen." Caruso added "I met Sofia first via Zoom and, even over a call, I knew her and I would make great friends. She lit up my laptop screen with a beautiful presence and she brought that light with her to set every day. We worked so closely and, over the course of months of shooting, I got to understand her goofy sense of humour and, to be honest, I didn’t have to invent chemistry... it was just there".

They also spoke about what surprised them during filming, with Wylie saying "How practical everything was. Like the sets were made to be used and interacted with. The details put into each one were also so incredible. I wish a separate movie could be made just to show the sets fully". Caruso weighed in on the set by adding "In pre-production, I got to see the sets being built and a lot of the imagery of what the final product would look like. I knew how much detail and artistry was going into them, but, when I saw the final product, my jaw truly dropped. Once I was in the scene acting and playing out the story, I was truly transported. I’ve never worked on a set this beautifully built."

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Lucy is a mum-of-two, multi-award nominated writer and blogger with six years’ of experience writing about parenting, family life, and TV. Lucy has contributed content to PopSugar and moms.com. In the last three years, she has transformed her passion for streaming countless hours of television into specialising in entertainment writing. There is now nothing she loves more than watching the best shows on television and sharing why you - and your kids - should watch them.