When Sophie desperately desires an extraordinary life outside the dull world of Gavaldon, her wish is enough for Sophie and her best friend Agatha to be whisked away from the lives they have always known. Far away from Gavaldon, the duo find themselves on opposite sides of a brewing war between good and evil. The School For Good and Evil spends most of its time showing Sophie and Agatha standing out from their peers, most of whom are descendants of famous fairytale stories, with their classmates including the sons of Captain Hook and King Arthur. Their time at the school shows the duo they could be more than they ever thought.
For viewers who watched and enjoyed The School For Good And Evil or believed the plot could have gone in darker directions, television shows and movies are available to watch familiar concepts, perhaps with a more adult approach. In some ways, The School For Good And Evil is reminiscent of the Harry Potter franchise’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Given many of the characters are children of famously known characters, that gives it a similar connection to Disney Channel’s Descendants trilogy, a franchise that discusses how villain kids can grow to understand how to be good.
6/6 Harry Potter Series
Separating students by their Houses was one of the most significant parts of the Harry Potter franchise. Discovering which house the students belonged in, between Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin, was part of how they determined their identity. It was who they shared a room with, played Quidditch with, and had the most classes with. If a viewer enjoyed the separation between the good and evil students in The School For Good And Evil, they would probably appreciate how the Harry Potter series has more development in its detached Houses and a more extensive background to understanding the wizarding world’s history.
The School For Good and Evil gives a very brief background explanation for the world it exists in, not going far beyond that fairytale characters are real. It is a movie that certainly could have used more development in world-building. If world-building and understanding history is something to look for, then the Harry Potter franchise may be a good fit.
5/6 Descendants Trilogy
Like The School For Good And Evil, many of the characters featured, in Descendants‘ case, all of them, are the children of heroes and villains in classic fairytale stories. But, while in the Netflix film, the evil kids are being taught to be villains, in the Disney Channel franchise, the villains are invited to Auradon to learn how to be good. So, while there is a battle between good and evil, it also comes from the complicated pre-existing struggle between the next generation of heroes and villains gifted to them by their parents.
Descendants offers more character development in understanding the growth between growing up evil and learning how to be good. The villain kids are offered more chances to contemplate how they are treated differently from the hero’s children based on how their parents act toward them and what is expected of them. The concepts of good and evil are slightly more complex, as in each movie in the trilogy; the concepts of what makes a person good or evil are questioned.
4/6 Once Upon A Time
While certain characters, such as Emma and Henry, represent the next generations of fairytale characters, Once Upon A Time also heavily features the original characters from the stories, such as Snow White, Prince Charming, and the Evil Queen. For those who love fairytales and Disney’s classic tales, Once Upon A Time delivers a variety of origin stories for numerous of Disney’s most prominent characters while providing them with a backstory and motivation that the original tales never did. In addition, it develops villains beyond a one-note bad guy and presents justifiable explanations for the antagonistic relationships beyond needing a villain for the sake of the plot.
The School For Good And Evil could have put more into Rafal as a villain, moving beyond his wish for evil to conquer good. However, both the movie and the series share the representation of fairytale characters and their contrast between a magical world and a non-magical one.
3/6 Legacies
Legacies is another fantasy series that takes place at a school. In this case, werewolves, witches, and vampires co-exist together, learning to no longer look at each other as threats and discover the entire history of the supernatural and their own abilities. However, in one episode that takes inspiration from fairytales and the forces of good versus evil, Josie finally accepts the idea that she can be powerful and good, rather than her previous connections of powerful meaning evil and good meaning weak.
Josie connects her revelation to Hope being powerful and good, and The School For Good And Evil supports Josie’s previous belief. In the movie, witches are considered evil due to their power, while those without abilities beyond connections to animals are considered good. The School For Good And Evil teases there is undoubtedly more to it, but does not extend on those initial statements to the degree it certainly had time for.
2/6 Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina
Sophie’s transition from claiming to be good to embracing evil in The School For Good And Evil is similar to Sabrina Spellman’s big transition in Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina. After finally signing the Book of the Beast and understanding her connection to Satan, Sabrina’s season two arc finds her spending more time at the Academy of Unseen Arts, diving into the magical side of her life and stepping further away from her human connections. However, rather than putting the question of what it means to be good or evil above the heads of two central characters, such as the Netflix movie does with Sophie and Agatha, Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina has Sabrina Spellman at the forefront of questioning good versus evil.
1/6 Sky High
Who is a hero, and who is a sidekick? That is Sky High‘s version of class separation. While it is not meant to suggest anyone is preparing to be a villain, it is still used to question who has the chance of being more useful in combat. What abilities are considered more heroic than others? Which is regarded as a hero support? This is another movie that has teenagers experience a supernatural school that feels separate primarily from their lives at home. Although the main character Will, must deal with his parents being known superheroes in both realities, even if their identities are a secret, Will still spends plenty of the movie wondering what his path will be or if he can live up to what his parents have already accomplished.
The School For Good And Evil does not rely on comparisons to parents, but it does have Sophie vying for an exciting life, while Agatha is initially looked at poorly for potentially being a witch. However, where these two movies truly show their similarity is understanding unity works best in defeating the ultimate Big Bad. While in Sky High, it is a slow burn to see the heroes and hero support come together, in The School For Good And Evil, Sophie’s actions and Agatha’s desperate wish for the fighting to stop results in the good and evil students seemingly putting their differences aside and starting to become friends.