MAGIC, fairy tales and special effects combine in Netflix's new fantasy movie The School for Good and Evil which landed on Netflix yesterday.
Gothic clothing meets ballroom dresses in this tale of good versus evil in this screen adaptation from Soman Chainani's best-selling young adult series of novels.
The storyline centres around best friends Sophie and Agatha – two misfits who share the unlikeliest of bonds.
When one night under a blood red moon, a powerful force sweeps them away and throws them into opposing sides at a magical school that trains future fairy tale heroes and villains, their friendship is put to the test.
Young actresses Sophia Anne Caruso, whom director Paul Feig first spotted in the musical Beetlejuice on Broadway, and Sofia Wylie from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series play the lead characters Sophie and Agatha respectively.
They are supported by a stellar cast, which Feig describes as the "heavy hitters" of the movie industry. These include: Charlize Theron, as the villains' teacher, Lady Lesso; Kerry Washington, as the heroes' teacher, Professor Dovey; Laurence Fishburne as the School Master and narration from Cate Blanchett.
The School for Good and Evil was filmed at Belfast's Harbour Studios and on location across Northern Ireland, including Belfast's St Anne's Cathedral, St Peter's Church, Mount Stewart, Woodburn Forest, the Ulster Folk Museum, Clandeboye Estate and Castle Archdale.
The director, whose credits include Bridesmaids, Spy, Last Christmas and the 2016 Ghostbusters, spoke of his love of filming in Northern Ireland while he was in Belfast last week for an NI Screen and Cinemagic gala screening of his new movie.
Despite being at the mercy of our notoriously fickle weather, he was especially delighted to discover Fermanagh's Big Dog Forest.
"Apparently, hardly anybody's ever shot there because it's deep forest and hard to get there. Most people watching the movie will go: 'That's a special effect.' But you can't build something that looks that beautiful, with green moss everywhere," says Feig.
"It was challenging because it poured rain the first day and turned into an absolute mud bath. We'd be walking, sinking in the mud, and with all these princesses in beautiful gowns, you're trying not to make a muddy disaster," he laughs.
The American admits he never thought he'd create something in the fantasy genre, but it was the relationship of the characters and the exploration of the balance between good and evil.
"In today's world everybody seems to be breaking things down into 'us versus them'," he explains.
"But we're not polar opposites, we're all members of this earth and we should all find a way to be a little more tolerant with each other."
Feig also relished the challenge of waving his directors wand at Soman Chainani's books and creating a whole new world.
"It's the first movie I've made that immerses viewers into a whole new world that is completely removed from ours. I just had so much fun doing it and couldn't be prouder," adds the 60 year-old, who although creating a world full of magic and using CGI-infused action sequences, wanted it to feel real.
"We were building an entire reality out of nothing, but at the same time, it was really important to me to do as much as we could practically, because I'm not a big fan of lots of green screens and all that," he adds.
Central to that was the two enormous sound stages built at the 120,000 sq ft Harbour Studios in Belfast.
Having a film about a school of magic obviously brings forth visions of Hogwarts and Harry Potter. Feig doesn't downplay this comparison and from the onset worked to ensure The School For Good and Evil looked like nothing else that had come before.
"I really wanted to make sure that we turned this school into something unique, especially from a sartorial perspective," he says.
"Art Nouveau has been in my head ever since shooting the movie Spy in Budapest in 2014. Andy Nicholson, my production designer, embraced that and found other architecture from the likes of Victor Horta and Gaudi and we created this big melting point of design.
"We built these giant sets, with two very different looking schools, yet slightly unified in that they were Art Nouveau-inspired and over the top."
This uniqueness and individuality followed through into costume design with all 867 costumes and 600 pairs of boots and shoes created from scratch by over 70 costumiers.
"Many of them are the children of famous storybook characters, and it made sense that everyone would bring their own style and culture to the place. In that regard, it was really fun to let Renée Kalfus, my amazing costume designer, run wild with this," explains Feig.
Whilst the books are aimed at the young adult market, Feig deliberately set out to make "an anti-Disney" film, for all-ages, which although is a twist on fairy tales, also explored real issues and darkness too.
"The book places the characters at mid-teens, but it doesn't necessarily need to a high school and we took it up to around the 18 and 19-year-old age group."
If he was to enrol in such a college himself, Feig regrettably admits it would be the School for Good: "I definitely try to be in the School for Evil, but sadly I will always be a goody two shoes."
Having filmed in Belfast in 2021, when many lockdown restrictions were still in place, Feig is keen to return to work here again and experience the city's nightlife.
"It was only really opening in the last two weeks of filming and I got a glimpse of how vibrant the city is," he says.
"I hope that I can make another movie here."
And with seven books from Chinani to draw from, does he think that return will be to direct the next instalment of The School for Good and Evil?
"We're actually already figuring out what the next one's going to be," he reveals. "I'd love to come back here and do it all again because we just had the best time."
And if a sequel is commissioned they will need to rebuild the sets and buy some extra props, with Feig admitting he is fond of collecting set mementos.
"The sets were literally torn down the second we stopped shooting on them, which was kind of heart-breaking but they were so big it was impractical and expensive to store them," he explains.
"I'm always stealing stuff from sets. I kept Excalibur, the set of keys for unlocking finger magic and one of the killer flowers too," he laughs.
:: The School for Good and Evil is available on Netflix now.
