The first look at Netflix’s fantasy drama The School For Good and Evil is out, and it is enchanting. Released by Entertainment Weekly, a series of photographs reveals Paul Feig taking the fans to a dreamy landscape of the institute that trains heroes and villains to maintain the balance between good and evil. We see Charlize Theron as the teacher of the villains, Lady Lesso, decked in black, with wild curly hair and donning chunky jewelry. To balance her out we see Kerry Washington as Professor Dovey, teacher of the heroes in an exquisite blue dress, decked in headgear and diamond and pearl jewelry. Laurence Fishburne looks very regal as The School Master.
A couple of other photographs showcase series leads Sophia Anne Caruso, as Sofia and Sofia Wylie as Agatha engaging in various school activities in a very picturesque landscape. While the images don’t give away much about the plot of the upcoming film, Feig revealed his love for “female friendship stories.” The Ghostbusters director also emphasizes that he always wanted to “create a world, and I've never really had a chance to do that.” However, he admitted that creating a world from scratch is no joke, so he closely worked with author Soman Chainani to deliver an adaptation that will satisfy the book readers. For the visual aspect he divulges, he was “really jonesing to get to work with visual artists to create something new."
To differentiate the visual language of The School of Good and Evil from fantasy big wigs like Harry Potter and Frozen, the director chose Art Nouveau, a style characterized by decorative art, architecture, and design prominence. The influence is quite apparent in the new images be it costumes, jewelry, or sets. The style helped the director to break the tonality of visual language set by other fantasy franchises and “make it our own where it's both garish and over the top.” He also ensured that “while it's extreme characters, it's not a cartoon."
As for the movie's message at heart the director revealed,
Look, we're all people, we're all human. Agatha even says it in the movie, 'You're not evil, you're just human.' I think it's a really important lesson to get across in a very stylized, entertaining way. It's all relatable to our lives — even though it's set in a very fanciful world.
The School for Good and Evil premieres on Netflix on October 21. Meanwhile, you can check out the new images and trailer below:
