Netflix’s highly anticipated “The School for Good and Evil,” directed by Paul Feig, will be released in the U.S. on Oct. 21. Before being adapted into a movie, “The School for Good and Evil” was originally a popular book series written by Soman Chainani in 2013. Capturing the hearts of young readers, more than two million copies of the first book have been sold and translated into 29 languages across six continents. Thanks to the production team, it seems the adaptation will live up to the high expectations.

“The School for Good and Evil” is a fantastical hexology starring Sophie (Sophia Anne Caruso) and her best friend Agatha (Sofia Wylie) from the magical city of Gavaldon. Every four years, two kids are enrolled in the School for Good and Evil, where heroes and villains train to live out their legacies.

This year, when bright, bubbly Sophie is enrolled in the School for Evil and lonely, angsty Agatha the School for Good, the girls think it must be a mistake. But as they grapple with coming to terms with who they are, they end up disrupting the delicate balance between good and evil and must look past their differences to set things right again. 

Netflix exceeds expectations with the release of the trailer which shows masterful cinematography that elevates the storytelling. A shift from ethereal to foreboding visuals provides a fitting backdrop for Agatha and Sophie’s disillusionment, while the contrasting lighting in each girls’ scenes highlights their diverging character arcs.

With Chainani onboard as an executive producer, fans can trust that he will make the best decisions regarding the script, concept, and production. 

“The film will be a very different animal than the book. Part of the privilege of getting to write it is that I’ll enable fans to experience the world in a brand new way,” Chainani said. “No one wants a pure translation of the book, scene for scene. Besides its impracticality, readers’ imaginations already have done that much better than we ever could.”

Among the talented crew, Feig and casting director Fiona Weir, who worked on the “Harry Potter” series have chosen to sit in on the auditions. With Wylie’s history with Disney to Caruso’s fame on Broadway, it’s clear that the actors will be exceptional in bringing even minor characters to life.

The whimsical adaptation is perfect for kids enchanted by fairy tales and adults who “never grew up.” For both longtime fans of the book and newcomers to Chainani’s fantastical “The School for Good and Evil,” save the date!