Wicked: For Good
Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 21, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 60 Critic Reviews
Positive:
32
Mixed:
23
Negative:
5

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Original-CinChris KnightNov 19, 2025
I daresay this one was worth the wait. Though darker, visually and emotionally, than part one, and shorter — two hours and 18 minutes, down from two-forty — Wicked: For Good is still a rollicking good time. Read full review
88
USA TodayBrian TruittNov 18, 2025
A stronger and tighter movie than its Oscar-nominated predecessor without losing any of its splendor. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzNov 21, 2025
Grande and Erivo bring that relationship to life, making “Wicked: For Good” more emotional than you’d expect. These are two really good actors whose investments in what could have been let’s-put-on-a-show theater-kid performances go much deeper. Read full review
80
The TimesKevin MaherNov 18, 2025
Erivo is extraordinary as Elphaba. Although she is known and rightly celebrated for her vocal prowess, her best scenes are wordless. She carries whole set pieces, and the wounded essence of the entire project, in her haunted looks and her mood of quiet despair. Read full review
80
BBCCaryn JamesNov 18, 2025
This film is as slick and shiny as Glinda's lip gloss, but it may also be just what its many fans want. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeNov 18, 2025
The emotions are real; everything else is movie magic, representing where we now stand — at the apex of artificiality — for better or worse. Read full review
80
Screen RantAlex HarrisonNov 18, 2025
Wicked: For Good does stumble at various points. The much-touted new songs by returning songwriter Stephen Schwartz are superfluous, and there's a laughably regrettable decision near the end involving Jeff Goldblum that only avoids disaster by being very brief. But all the same magic that powered the first film is still at work in this one. Read full review
80
The GuardianPeter BradshawNov 18, 2025
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. Read full review
80
Total FilmMolly EdwardsNov 18, 2025
A darker and sadder Part 2 brings the story of Oz's witches to a moving close and cements Jon M. Chu's adaptation of Wicked as an absolute triumph. But, For Good suffers slightly from thinner source material and weak new songs. Read full review
80
iFrancesca SteeleNov 18, 2025
It doesn’t quite reach the heights of Part One, but this is still a highly entertaining display of what musical theatre can do on screen with top level performances and a true affection for the world-building. Read full review
80
Radio TimesJames MottramNov 18, 2025
Once again, Nathan Crowley’s production design is wondrous, a multi-colour extravaganza that truly brings Oz to life. Simply spending time there – with its fields of tulips and fireworks in the sky – is one of the great pleasures of this movie. A film that will surely satisfy Wicked’s extensive army of devotees. Read full review
80
ColliderTherese LacsonNov 18, 2025
Wicked: For Good is not only a loyal adaptation, but it builds on what works from the first film while leaning into its lead performances. The characters are more mature and nuanced, making it a worthy successor to the first film. It doesn't surpass Wicked, but as a double feature, these two movies do justice to one of the best musicals ever, and that's not an easy feat to accomplish. Read full review
75
The Travers TakePeter TraversNov 21, 2025
After a one-year intermission, “For Good,” makes its debut as a darker, gloomier, frustratingly less dazzling take on the “Wicked” IP. Should you still see it? Damn straight. Despite its stumbles, the final half of this witchy brew soars on the musical wings of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande who are twice as wonderful the second time around. Read full review
75
The PlaylistSimon ThompsonNov 20, 2025
Will it win over people who didn’t get on board for the first film? Probably not. Will the film’s darkness appeal to those wanting more of the same? It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but that’s not the movie’s fault. Breathtaking and bold, Wicked: For Good is an epic and emotional event that will delight and enchant fans. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldNov 19, 2025
Wicked: For Good could have been better, but it’s still a glorious journey to Oz. Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiNov 18, 2025
Darker and grimmer Act 2, though, by a hair, makes a meatier movie because characters aren’t as silly — the first flick was practically a pageant — and they are actually propelling toward a satisfying conclusion. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireNov 18, 2025
Wicked: For Good really sings where it counts: with the emotional ache of the fractured friendship at the story’s core. Read full review
70
StatusBrian LowryNov 21, 2025
"Wicked” should be considered as one sweeping, five-hour canvas. And if the slightly shorter second half doesn’t fully measure up to the original, that does little to detract from director Jon M. Chu’s overall accomplishment. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithNov 20, 2025
Mr. Chu knows exactly how to bring this story emphatically home, and as we’ve heard before, there’s no place like it. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 20, 2025
Despite its unsettling political resonance, “Wicked” is finally most convincing as a story of an intense, soulfully nurturing female friendship. Read full review
70
Next Best PictureLauren LaMagnaNov 18, 2025
Wicked: For Good is a lovely ode to the beauty of female friendship, the spirit of individuality, the power of goodness in the face of authoritarianism, and the influence one true friend can have on an individual to grow into their full potential. Read full review
70
LooperReuben BaronNov 18, 2025
The final result of "Wicked: For Good" falls between the best and worst case scenarios: some big worthwhile changes and additions show a smart adaptational instinct, but it's still less entertaining than "Part 1," marred by inconsistent plotting, lackluster humor, and fewer exceptional musical numbers. It's good enough, but I could be happier. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesAmy NicholsonNov 18, 2025
“For Good” is a worthwhile return to Oz. The extra scenes and rejiggered duets justify the running time (even if the 160-minute length of the first film remains unforgivable). Read full review
70
SlashfilmBJ ColangeloNov 18, 2025
Oh, and if you aren't sold on Jonathan Bailey being selected as People's Sexiest Man Alive for 2025, the way he yearns while performing "As Long as You're Mine" will fix that for you. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyNov 18, 2025
Sure, all but one of the show’s most memorable songs are in the first act, but the investment in character, story and sumptuous design more than compensates in Wicked: For Good, which again shows that casting stellar vocal talents Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande was a masterstroke. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriNov 18, 2025
Wicked: For Good is shorter than the first film and, while it might be a step back in terms of spectacle, it’s a leap forward in (go ahead, laugh) subtlety and emotion. My audience was audibly sobbing by the end. Read full review
67
IndieWireKate ErblandNov 18, 2025
Much like Wicked, Wicked: For Good works its way up to a massive duet between the pair, so emotionally resonant than even the most wicked of audience members will still likely shed a tear (the song is, of course, “For Good”). It’s an unmitigated high note, but it’s a lonely one indeed. Is it alone worth the wait? Maybe, why couldn’t the entire film feel that way? Read full review
67
ConsequenceLiz Shannon MillerNov 18, 2025
For Good doesn't successfully sell Elphaba's decree that "no good deed will I do again," one of the movie's many muddled moments. It does, however, reflect an age where every message feels muddled, no hero can be trusted. All we know is that something is rotten here. Read full review
67
The Film MavenKristen LopezNov 18, 2025
Wicked: For Good's problems are the results of being two distinct features. Screenwriters Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox understand the hard part is over in terms of crafting the world and characters and now audiences have to live in it. Read full review
65
Film ThreatAlan NgDec 2, 2025
It all feels good enough, which also feels disappointing at the same time. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 19, 2025
Suffice it to say that those who love the play will sit enraptured through Wicked for Good and not think it’s a minute too long. Those without the same depth of connection may leave wishing Chu had hired a less generous editor and made better use of his pruning shears. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineDan RubinsNov 18, 2025
The film is stretched out, breathless, and never really emotionally affecting, even on the level of nostalgia. Read full review
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