“I sobbed through Wicked: For Good and immediately wanted to call my friends”

As a girl who spent most of her youth belting out musicals at her local theatre, I knew I wasn’t going to be the most reliable of critics going into Wicked: For Good. I even played Glinda for one seminal summer, where I frolicked around the stage struggling to say ‘clandestinely’.

I am one of the many former musical theatre kids who were changed for good by the lyrical wonder of Stephen Schwartz’s score and the enduring love story of two unlikely friends whose fates were anchored to each other.

Wicked, including Jon M Chu’s adaptation (based on the 2003 stage show, which was born out of the 1995 book of the same name by Gregory Maguire), is one of those musicals that can be split into two distinctive parts. The first half is packed with bops, whimsical dance breaks and playful exchanges laced with hopeful optimism that defy gravity and blossom into a sense of unlimited possibilities. 

The second act, which Stylist VIP members saw at an exclusive screening earlier this week, doesn’t share that buoyancy. It slips into a richer, heavier tone exploring loss, betrayal and displacement in Oz, and Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda’s (Ariana Grande) friendship as the political undercurrent comes to the forefront. 

For those who haven’t been raised on the Wizard Of Oz spin-off lore, For Good sees Glinda ascend to new levels of popularity as the Wizard’s representative of all things good, while the witch hunt grows for the Wicked Witch of the West, her former friend turned state-sanctioned enemy. Exiled, Elphaba is left to live out her forest witch era, fighting for the lives of innocent animals in the hope that one day she’ll clear her name and return home

But as the witch hunt grows, even Glinda begins to question her alliances with the Wizard and his wickedly manipulative right-hand woman, Madame Morrible. It’s clear we aren’t in Kansas anymore, and this isn’t going to be like part one. 

After an opulent dance number to lure us back into the emerald effervescence, the audience’s bubble is swiftly popped, and we’re back down to earth with the stark realisation that despite Glinda’s best efforts, Elphaba can never return to the Emerald City. The façade has fallen, and she can no longer believe in the fraudulent man behind the mask who has no real power, only self-indulgent influence.

It could be argued that this is the less memorable half of the musical, but For Good positions itself as an ode to platonic love, which takes centre stage despite the initial love triangle. Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) is no longer dancing through life, but instead brooding through it as the poster boy for the green and gold-clad Royal Guard leading the hunt for the Wicked Witch. Fiyero has undergone a PR stunt of Madame Morrible’s own making to give the people of Oz a couple to root for with his surprise engagement to Glinda. 

Yet, it’s when Bailey reunites with Erivo for Fiyero and Elphaba’s duet, As Long As You’re Mine, that the magic truly begins. Gasps and giggles filled my press screening as Bailey dialled his Bridgerton-level yearning up to 10, sending audiences (read: me) into a meltdown as the slow-burn love story unravelled. He is the sexiest man alive, after all.

Once again, I can’t help but love this adaptation for its commitment to honour and enrich the source material. Passages of speech have been lifted from the musical and are complemented by two new songs that flesh out some of the rushed pacing in the sharp 60-minute run time of the show. Elphaba’s magic has been glamorised with almost a Marvel superhero-esque flair, which emphasises the scope of her power – especially compared to Glinda’s growing sadness about her lack of any true magic. 

In many ways, I feel protective of the two parts: the first being a nostalgic tonic for the wild freedom and optimism of youth, and the second being an embodiment of the love and gratitude I have for so many of my closest friends. 

As a child, I longed for the love of a Fiyero, while I consoled myself by singing I’m Not That Girl when the boy I liked didn’t like me back. As a woman, I sob through For Good and want to rush out of the screening to message my friends, the ones I’ve neglected or not heard from, the ones I’m eternally grateful for, the ones who have consolidated the foundation of who I am now. Romantic love is positioned as the be-all and end-all, but my platonic loves have shaped my adult life in ways I could never have imagined. 

Part one is the glorious warm-up to this Wizard of Oz adjacent world, while For Good sticks the emotional landing as a poignant reflection on the true power of friendship. So many women have changed the trajectory of my life, leaving handprints and echoes on my heart that have encouraged me to be better than I’ve been before. This is rarely shown (or sung) in films in such a devastatingly heartfelt way, especially when you factor in the cast’s off-screen friendships and endless on-screen tears. You feel every ounce of Grande’s pain in her performance, just as as you break into goosebumps when Erivo sings No Good Deed, which is a mesmerising highlight.

For Good should appeal to anyone who has lived long enough to see themselves become the villain in friendships – sometimes through complacency or inadvertent mistakes. Or those who have made attempts to be forgiven for their actions and have been deemed worthy of the love of their friends. It was always going to be interesting to see how Chu pulled this finale off, as the endlessly supportive co-stars held space and tears through the press tour in 2024, when on-screen Elphaba and Glinda have always been destined to be on conflicting sides of a political struggle. 

The film is never reduced to a dichotomy: everyone has some wickedness within them and people fight for the good of others. Glinda is not solely good, nor Elphaba ever truly wicked. Sadly, there isn’t as much room for the humour that Grande performs so effortlessly, but Goldblum shines as the whimsical unaware Wizard and offers some much-needed lightness, alongside Fiyero and Elphaba as smitten stark-crossed lovers.

Wicked: For Good doesn’t shy away from the sorrows of friendship heartache; instead, it leans into love and loss, and it is all the richer for it. It is hard not to be moved by the thought of a whole new generation of girls who will grow up dreaming not of an all-dancing blonde prince, but the unlimited love found in friendship – the kind that outlives death, doesn’t break at the sign of a boy and looks imperfectly perfect. That’s the real magic. 

Wicked: For Good is out in cinemas now. 

Images: Universal, Shot by Farheenxo