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“Wicked: For Good” Review Round-Up: An Emotionally Resonant Finale With Two Unforgettable Performances

By The Credits  |  November 19, 2025

The first reactions to Jon M. Chu‘s Wicked: For Good were stellar when we reported on them back in late September. Now, the embargo for full-scale reviews has been lifted, and the critics have spoken. Chu and his team, most crucially his two mega-stars, Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, have stuck the landing—Wicked: For Good is being hailed by most critics as even better and more emotionally resonant than the critically acclaimed blockbuster that preceded it.

By now you know the story—the musical is centered on the surprising friendship between Erivo’s green-skinned, wrongly outcast Elphaba and Grande’s impossibly popular Glinda. The first film, which bowed in November of 2024, was mostly set at Shiz University, where the two young witches met, and boasted some of the musical’s most iconic songs, including the showstopping “Defying Gravity,” which detailed how Elphaba and Glinda were decidedly taking different paths. Wicked enjoyed 10 Oscar nominations, winning two—for Paul Tazewell’s costume design and Nathan Crowley’s production design.

L to R: Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in WICKED, directed by Jon M. Chu

The sequel, Wicked: For Good, once again boasts a script from Winnie Holzman, writer of the original Broadway play, and Dana Fox. When we spoke to Fox about her experience expanding the world of the musical into a two-part cinematic epic, she told us that Holzman and composer Stephen Schwartz, also one of the key creatives from the musical, were incredibly open about explaining, or re-interpreting, even the smallest details. “It was these weird little nuances that helped me get much more inside the story,” Fox told us. “And then I spent a lot of time asking them what Elphaba’s magic actually was. Can she do anything besides levitate? Is it only spells? Does she need a spell to do something? Is her magic out of her control in the beginning because she isn’t emotionally in control? That’s the kind of worldbuilding you have to do when you make a really big movie that you don’t necessarily have to do on the stage.” When Fox watched both films back-to-back, she had this to say: “By the end of the day, I was like a shell of a person who had to be swept off the floor – makeup all over, mascara, sweating, weeping, joyful, happy, singing. It was all of the emotions.”

L to R: Cynthia Erivo (as Elphaba), Ariana Grande (as Glinda), and Director Jon M. Chu on the set of WICKED FOR GOOD.

For Good finds Grande’s “Glinda the Good” falling under the manipulation of the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), while Elphaba, now an outcast, begins to embrace her reputation as the “Wicked Witch of the West.” When we spoke to Chu about his approach to taking on the musical as a two-part film, he said, “All fear of mistakes was off the table. We were so confident in trusting our instincts and knowing that we could always go back if it were a mistake, but we were able to stretch the boundaries of what this story could be.”

The Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw writes, “What a performance from Erivo; it is genuinely moving when the Prince has to convince Elphaba what we, the audience, have always known: that she is beautiful.”

While Variety‘s Peter Debruge says, “The film fixes a common complaint of the show, giving the pair more scenes (and songs) together in this final stretch, which now feels like a robust tale unto itself.”

The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney pens, “Grande floods it with so much feeling that it humanizes and enriches the character and, by extension, the whole movie.”

And Newsweek‘s Billie Melissa says, ” Its sincerity, heart, and belief in a better world are inspiring, and Grande and Erivo deliver the message flawlessly, bringing us into their warm embrace to comfort and inspire.”

For Good doesn’t boast blockbuster songs like “Defying Gravity,” but it does have Erivo and Grande, and maestro Stephen Schwartz, and the mix of still beloved songs from the stage and two new original numbers should be more than enough to satiate the music-obsessed. Those new original numbers are “No Place Like Home,” sung by Erivo’s Elphaba, and “The Girl in the Bubble,” performed by Grande’s Glinda. Both tracks are penned by Schwartz, who composes alongside John Powell.

Let’s have a peek at some of the reviews. Wicked: For Good will enchant theaters on November 21.

Featured image: L to R: Ariana Grande is Glinda and Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in WICKED FOR GOOD, directed by Jon M. Chu.

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The Credits

The Credits is the Motion Picture Association's online platform that profiles below-the-line filmmakers and TV creators. Through in-depth interviews and coverage, we shine a spotlight on all the individuals who are indispensable to the entertainment industry and create the films and series we love.