In the summer of 2013, while on a family vacation to Nova Scotia, I stepped inside a secondhand bookstore in Halifax. After slowly making my way slowly up and down between the stacks, I carefully choose two books to take home with me. One of those books was Soman Chainani’s “The School for Good and Evil.”
The first of six books in a middle grade series, “The School for Good and Evil” is foremost the story of Sophie and Agatha, two girls who grow up in the small town of Gavaldon. Every four years, two children are kidnapped from Gavaldon and taken to the School for Good and Evil. Here, one child is trained to be a hero and the other a villain. If the students are successful in their studies, the Storian (a magical pen) writes about their adventures and canonizes the students into fairytales. These stories then make their way back to Gavaldon.
Sophie may look like a princess, and Agatha like a witch, but SGE fervently argues that appearances can be deceiving. On the night that Sophie and Agatha are kidnapped, Sophie is dropped into the School for Evil, and Agatha finds herself in the School for Good. Did the School Master make a mistake? Or is there something else at play? This exploration of fairytales entranced me: I was immediately hooked, and will, forever and always, be fascinated by fairytales and their retellings.
After I read “The School for Good and Evil,” I regularly tuned into Soman’s YouTube channel, EverNever TV and was always on the SGE website.
In 2016, I created an Instagram account dedicated to the book series and began posting daily SGE memes. Slowly my account grew until it was the largest Instagram fan account for the book series. It is funny to think that had I never traveled to Halifax and found SGE, I may never have met other SGE fans who have now become friends.
In 2018, I became an EverNever TV intern and, in addition to many different year-round SGE projects, I made episodes in New York City for Soman’s YouTube channel during my high school summers with Soman, JoAnn (Soman’s previous assistant), Ramon (the masterful actor in the SGE sock puppet series), Jun (Soman’s current assistant) and Douggie (Soman’s friend’s dog, who hung out often at Soman’s apartment). I still have my email to Soman asking to be an intern, where I listed that I could use iMovie and had received an A in English class the previous year. (Soman’s response: “Hopefully we can make it happen. We love Jamie. She really is our favorite reader!!!”)
As all of this was happening, the rights to an SGE movie were sold to Universal Studios and then later resold to Netflix. I vividly remember how the movie was going to be released in 2015, then 2016, delayed again and again with no release date in sight. For most of my time spent following the series, the movie was in development hell. Finally, in 2020, it was announced, officially, that Netflix would lead the project. Reader, the entire SGE fandom nearly lost their collective mind online! This was the moment we had all been waiting for—though we would have to wait another two years to see the final product. I would also later become an ambassador for the SGE movie.
The SGE movie was filmed in Northern Ireland over the summer of 2020, entirely under COVID-19 lockdown protocols. During the months that followed, we learned of the actors who would star in the film, including but not limited to: Sofia Wylie, Sophia Anne Caruso, Kerry Washington, Charlize Theron, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Flatters, Laurence Fishburne, Kit Young, Freya Parks and Earl Cave.
It is an interesting experience to follow the production of a movie from beginning to end. Usually, I stumble upon a Netflix trailer for a movie releasing a week from now, add it to my watchlist, and then watch it a week later. With SGE, I have lived through the release of every new piece of information, every leaked image and every last teaser trailer and movie theory.
After the SGE movie received its official release date on Netflix on Oct. 19, 2022, Soman announced a few official pre-release screenings (one in London, one in New York City, one in Dublin and one in Los Angeles).
By invitation, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the early screening in New York City along with three of my SGE friends. On Oct. 13, I took a train from Boston’s South Station to New York City and met up with Ellie—who also runs Soman’s TikTok account—at Penn Station. Long-time SGE friends, Ellie and I met in person for the first time back in February to film an EverNever TV episode with Jun. It was a fun reunion under the clock in Moynihan Train Hall. After lunch at Chipotle, we checked into our hotel and then walked to A La Mode for ice cream (I got speed bump and pumpkin spice, she got oat milk latte and pumpkin spice). And finally, it was time to change for the reception and the movie screening. Under a darkening evening sky and intermittent rain showers, we walked to the reception to receive our gold wrist bands for the event.
It was fun to see familiar faces—Soman! Jun! Ramon!—and lovely to speak again with Soman’s editor at HarperCollins, Toni Markiet. Sophia Anne Caruso, who plays Sophie in the movie, was in attendance, too! After much talking, picture taking and making slow loops around the reception room, it was time for us to make our way to the Paris Theater.
After showing our wristbands, we found ourselves not two seats but four. We were expecting two more SGE friends, who soon arrived to great excitement. I had never met Sabrina and Noam in person before, and I can say with confidence that they are just as sweet in person as they are online and over Facetime. None of us are from New York City, and it was incredible that a book brought us all together. We caught up hurriedly and loudly, cramming in as much conversation as possible before the opening credits.
Slowly, the lights in the theater dimmed and the music swelled, and in what seemed like an instant, two hours and 28 minutes had passed, and the closing credits appeared on the screen. To watch the SGE movie with people who have known and loved the series for as long as I have, was a truly unique and unforgettable moment in time for which I will forever be glad to have experienced. Surreal would be the best way to describe it—on the screen were the characters I had grown up reading. After the movie, Ellie, Noam, Sabrina and I went back to the hotel and debriefed until 1 a.m.
The SGE movie is as faithful an adaptation as I could have hoped for. Certain scenes did not make it into the final cut and new plot points were added, and through it all, it was an immensely enjoyable experience. SGE questions whether anyone can truly be pure good or evil and speaks to the power of friendship and the absurdity of fairy tale logic. The soundtrack, composed by Theodore Shapiro, is stunning. SGE committed to using as many practical effects as possible, and the authenticity within scenes really shows.
Through it all, I am so grateful to be a part of the online SGE community for the book series. It has meant the world to me. This is an exemplary case of being in the right place at the right time, and I will always carry the book series in my heart. Thank you to Soman Chainani for writing “The School for Good and Evil”—I cannot wait to see what projects you will announce next.
“The School for Good and Evil” is now streaming on Netflix.
