Paramount+’s latest original series, School Spirits, grants its audience a hall pass to high school purgatory. Headlined by actress Peyton List of NetFlix’s Cobra Kai, the YA drama follows the ghost of student and recently deceased Maddie Nears as she investigates her disappearance at Split River High School. Helping Maddie are her two best friends from the living world, Simon Elroy played by Kristian Flores (Hulu’s Reboot) and Nicole Herrera played by Kiara Pichardo (Netflix’s The Society). School Spirits is based on the eponymous graphic novel written by the series creators Megan Trinrud, Nate Trinrud, and Maria Nguyen.
Here are five reasons to stream School Spirits if you aren’t already:
1. Tomato Approved | Since hitting the screen, reception of Paramount+’s inventive teenage ghost story has been positive, earning the show a score of 80% with Rotten Tomato’s “Average Tomatometer” and a 93% “Average Audience Score” as well as approval by entertainment media outlets like Variety, Collider, and Decider. School Spirits’ praise is due in large part to the intriguing filmmaking and story writing. Shout out to series directors Max Winkler (American Horror Story), Oran Zegman (Honor Society), Brian Dannelly (In the Dark) and Hannah Macpherson (T@gged); writers and co-creators Megan Trinrud, Nate Trinrud and Maria Nguyen; and additional writers Lijah Barasz and Thomas Higgins. Also contributing to the show’s success are those producing the film: Oliver Goldstick of Pretty Little Liars and Bridgerton serves as showrunner and executive producer alongside the Trinruds pair and Winkler serving as executive producers and producers Don Dunn and Joyce Sawa.
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2. Old Genre, Fresh Take | Comparable to Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why and CBS’s Ghosts, School Spirits resurrects new life into the age-old murder mystery genre with a pairing to the supernatural. What sets Paramount+’s teen drama apart, however, is the story’s exploration of death’s imprint on its surroundings and the permeability of the veil separating the living from the dead. Maddie’s murder mystery unfolds at Split River High School where a collection of spirits has haunted the grounds across decades desperately awaiting their opportunity to crossover. The true haunting of Split River HS is not the ghosts that gather in the gymnasium or stalk the teacher’s lounge for a box of donuts. Instead, the “scars” left behind by lives lost too soon forever linger in the halls, classrooms, and numerous other locations on school grounds. When Maddie realizes she is bound to a possible eternity spent within the confines of campus, the protagonist has no choice but to figure out who is responsible for her death. Unfortunately for Maddie, her last moments have been swiped from her memory. Amnesia is the first anomaly to make Maddie stand apart from the rest of the ghostly gang lingering in limbo. By the end of Episode 1, “My So-Called Death”, a second irregularity of Maddie’s presence is revealed when she makes contact with her best friend Simon. The single caveat to the duo’s communication is they may only speak in the very places imprinted by a person’s heartbreaking demise. No known spirit has successfully interacted with the living world according to School Spirits lore, and by the end of the third episode, viewers are left wondering whether Maddie has passed away or if she is still alive straddling the invisible line between life and death.
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3. A Cast to Love | Emotionally charged acting performances pull viewers straight into Maddie’s murder case with every twist and turn the investigation takes. Leading the charge is actress Peyton List as the series protagonist, followed by supporting actors Kristian Flores as Simon Elroy, Milo Manheim (Zombies) as Wally Clark, Kiara Pichardo as Nicole Herrera, Spencer MacPherson (Astrid & Lily Save the World) as Xavier Baxter, Sarah Yarkin (Motherland: Fort Salem) as Rhonda, Nick Pugliese (13 Reasons Why) as Charley, Rainbow Wedell (The Bureau of Magical Things) as Claire Zolinski, among other cast members. Each actor brings a profound depth and personality to their respective character, encouraging their audience to fully immerse themselves into School Spirits’ cryptic story.
4. Needle Drops to Bless Your Playlist | Music supervisor Whitney Pilzer (The Offer) created a carefully curated list of Indie hits for every episode alongside nastolgic classics like “Crash Into Me” by David Matthews Band and Joe Jackson’s “Steppin’ Out”. The teen drama’s soundtrack includes music by Phoebe Bridgers, Perfume Genius, a song by the show’s very own actress Sarah Yarkin called “Rosy Glasses”, and many other jams. Composer Anna Waronker, known for her work on Yellowjackets, scored the Paramount+ series and recorded the theme song, “Long Gone” heard in opening and closing credits.
5. Provocative Questions to Keep You Up at Night | School Spirits is just as much an investigation of human behavior and relationships as it is a murder mystery. We can promise you it will not be the ghosts that keep you up after an episode, but rather the questions it leaves you to digest:
When the adults in our lives fail us as youth, who can we turn to? Can you trust the people closest to you? When are secrets best left unsaid? Is it okay to live for yourself, and where do you draw the line?
With two episodes left in Season 1, there’s still time to catch up! Stream School Spirits on Paramount+ and join Maddie Nears as she unravels the mystery around her death. New episodes are released at midnight (PT) every Thursday.