'Practical Magic 2' Review
Release Date: 09/10/26 [Cinemas]
Genre: Drama. Romance.
MPAA: Rated PG13.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
The Verdict: A Maybe
Practical Magic opens by turning what should be the harrowing sight of a woman being hanged for witchcraft into a whimsical mission statement: The accused witch prances away, is exiled to a picturesque island, and accidentally curses generations of daughters so their male paramours die off. The score might as well be playing “Roll to Me” by Del Amitri.
Later, there’s an assault, then a murder, a body hidden in a backyard garden, some light necromancy, and dancing over midnight margaritas.
Practical Magic should be a tonal nightmare. The fact that it comes off as cozy, adorable, and fun feels like witchcraft. It’s a love story, but it’s also a story about sisters, fun aunts, pop-country music and big, stupid late-’90s hair. Also: It’s weirdly horny? WTF is this movie?!
“We’re gonna grow old together,” Gillian (Nicole Kidman) tells her sister Sally (Sandra Bullock), promising they’ll one day have a houseful of cats.
Nearly 30 years later in real life – and maybe 15 in the movie’s wobbly timeline – another Owens husband has been buried, and Sally has erased every memory of magic from her daughters’ minds. They’re now grown: Antonia (Maisie Williams) is beginning a medical internship, while Kylie (Joey King) is both in college and in love. Which, of course, means a boy has to die. The Owens women are still cursed, and so the sequel has its plot.
The second movie sends Kylie, Sally, and Gilly to England to investigate the curse. It’s a bummer that this pulls us away from their picturesque New England home, which was such a big part of the first movie. And it’s a little confusing that the original’s sisterhood theme doesn’t wholly carry over to the new generation: Almost as soon as we meet the grown-up siblings, they’re split apart.
The best parts of the movie come from seeing Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman together again nearly 30 years later, still playing off each other, being goofy, being witchy, and drinking margaritas. Williams doesn’t get much to do, and King is just OK in the larger role, but this is still a Sally and Gilly romp.
Where the first film used its magic and witchiness as cute window dressing, the sequel amps both up and makes everything noticeably darker. That’s not necessarily a good thing.
As a bigger, broader, better-looking film with sharper action and a more formidable central villain, it all feels a little clichéd. It’s the kind of thing audiences expect in a Marvel movie or – literally – pick almost anything else playing at your local cineplex right now.
What made the first film so special was that it was different. Sure, it was the HomeGoods version of magic instead of the Hot Topic version. But it occupied a unique and singular space because it was more pumpkin spice latte than The Craft.
Still, it has themes of female empowerment, sisterhood, and the bonds of family. And the girls do get to dance awkwardly, drink margaritas, and jump off a roof.
Hardcore fans of the original will be seeing this no matter what. But whether this film lives on and achieves cult status the way the original did might be a harder spell to cast. Practical Magic 2 may be more focused, but it feels less fun.
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