Back in 2017, the notion of a straight-to-streaming blockbuster seemed faintly ludicrous. When Netflix released Bright – the ruthlessly panned $100m “orc cop” film starring Will Smith – it felt like the mad folly of a company drunk on its own success. Five years, one pandemic and three prime ministers later, the prospect of Netflix releasing a film on that scale sounds like just another Friday.
The latest expensive release to grace the streamer’s catalogue is The School for Good and Evil. Directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids; 2016’s Ghostbusters), the film follows two teen girls who become enrolled in a magic school split into two conflicting factions (good and not-so-good). The whole thing is a sort of hodge-podge of different fantasy and fairytale tropes – Harry Potter by way of Shrek. Public domain IP is greedily plundered for characters: the school lumps characters like King Arthur’s progeny in with Prince Charming’s son and the daughter of Sheriff of Nottingham. It borrows, too, from Netflix’s own tried-and-tested formulas. Scenes of regal ballgowns seem ripped straight from the aesthetic of Bridgerton, while there are shades of fantasy fare such as The Sandman in its fanciful supernatural sequences.
