Hex

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What’s the Story?

British boarding school Mendenham Hall has a dark secret: Centuries ago, it was home to Lady McBain, a noblewoman with a penchant for witchcraft. Today, it houses hundreds of students with a penchant for all the usual teenage backstabbing. One of them is Cassie Hughes (Christina Cole), who's inherited Lady McBain's magical powers, as well as some of her less-than-noble views about the use of the dark arts. Cassie faces off against Azazeal (Michael Fassbender), a fallen angel with murderous intentions. Cassie's backup against Azazeal is her friend Thelma (Jemima Rooper), who is killed by Azazeal and returns as a spirit to offer magical support to the budding witch.

Is It Any Good?

This unispired British drama does a poor job of explaining how Cassie comes by her powers. Is it because she happened to discover some occult relics in a storage room? Or is there more happening -- was she drawn to these powerful magical items? No matter. Where HEX stumbles is how she chooses to use her powers. Most movies and shows about kids and witchcraft make it obvious that demons are evil and that magic should be used for good. Though this makes some of these stories predictable, it's also an important reason why fans enjoy siding with their favorite fiend-fighting teens, from Buffy to Harry Potter.

But in Hex, when she's not saving the world, Cassie isn't above using her powers against other students for purely selfish aims. Yes, many of her classmates conform to all the stereotypes of vapid, self-centered teens common to shows about wealthy students, and yes, they can be cruel, sometimes pathologically so. But that doesn't make them appropriate targets for Cassie's potentially life-threatening magical attacks, which earn Thelma's disapproval and make it hard for the audience to root for her. It also makes Hex a questionable choice for tweens and teens, who need good role models more than they need shows about magic.