School Spirits Series Review

I’m not going to roam the school halls for the rest of my afterlife.

School Spirits is a 2023 series. After her mysterious death, Maddie’s spirit is stuck in purgatory in the school. The afterlife consists of several ghosts who attempt to move on. As Maddie investigates her disappearance, she learns secrets that she was better off not knowing.

Any concept that involves ghosts, I am totally here for it! I binged this series in a heartbeat (not to make a dark pun). School Spirits is a very good series! Each episode ends on a suspenseful note. Including creative twists, School Spirits is an engrossing series.

Peyton List has the exciting opportunity to play a ghost. Maddie has unfinished business. List was excellent in her performance, conveying riveting emotions. There’s a lot to unfold in Maddie’s character. Having to take care of her mom more than she should, Maddie cares deeply for everyone.

School Spirits made the best casting choices. Kristian Ventura is another memorable performance. Simon discovers an ability he wasn’t aware of. I am astounded by Ventura’s emotional layers. Simon has a lot of duties and he does them because of his friendship.

An ensemble of actors plays an assortment of ghosts. I have seen Sarah Yarkin in a couple of other films. More credits include Milo Manheim, Spencer Macpherson, Kiara Pichardo, and Nick Pugliese. These ghosts co-exist from different periods. Some have been there longer than others. You have a lot of creative liberties when playing a ghost.

There are some weird dynamics. While Maddie's journey is well-developed, some secondary characters feel underexplored, reducing the emotional impact of their stories. Clair’s character never felt developed enough and Rainbow Wedell didn’t have the best direction. I also think Nicole (Pichardo) deserved a more prominent role.

The series went for an authentic approach instead of glamorizing the whole idea. The high school is a major setting. The ghosts have their ‘grief meeting’ in the gymnasium except they can’t call off basketball practice. We can’t travel off-grounds or we end up back in the school’s cellar.

Since these ghosts are from different periods, Evan Couillard developed costumes that represented the 80s or the 60s. Costumes play an important part in any film, but they’re given significant attention in this series. I love Maddie’s red dress in the dance episode.

Writers created intriguing storylines and ghost liberties. Here’s one of my favorites. If the ghosts interact with an object in the living world it has no effect. But there are some loose ends that writers didn’t pay attention to.

One standout element of School Spirits is its clever blending of genres. While the central theme revolves around the supernatural, the series incorporates elements of mystery, drama, and even a touch of dark humor. The narrative takes unexpected twists and turns, making it difficult to predict the outcome of Maddie's quest for the truth.

School Spirits is a series about figuring out how to live your life and your death. That concept immediately pulled me in. Ghosts are still here for a reason. Megan Trinrud and Nate Trinrud kept episodes formulaic, but not without their twists. Each episode ends on a suspenseful cliffhanger but then picks up where it left off. That’s what kept me watching.

With the subject matter, School Spirits gets heavy. Death is a prominent theme. School Spirits doesn’t take long to binge. It better not take long for the second season to come out because we are left on a suspenseful cliffhanger. If you’re a fan of ghost stories watch this series on Netflix.