The sequel to 1998’s cozy, witchy drama about sisterhood raises the stakes with darker magic and a new antagonist, but struggles to recapture the spellbinding charm of its predecessor.
Content Warning: This piece is free of major spoilers for Practical Magic 2, but discusses key themes and certain plot details, while also containing spoilers for Practical Magic (1998).
Sequels place creators in a difficult position, I’ll acknowledge that. When the sophomore work of a beloved piece comes into existence, it not only has to compete with the status of its predecessor, but also contend with a question that’s bound to arise when the work before it has stood on its own as a self-contained, satisfying narrative: was there ever a need for this to exist? That seems to be the central issue of Practical Magic 2, the sequel to the 1998 cozy, autumnal romantic comedy-drama that developed its own devoted following.
Much like The Devil Wears Prada 2, this sequel attempts to build upon certain themes and pillars that made its predecessor memorable. That said, there’s a stark difference in both the nature of the project and its execution. The Devil Wears Prada 2 finds its hook in how vastly the publishing industry has changed in the two decades since the first film came out, giving it an opportunity to say something about the current state of affairs.
While Practical Magic 2 does take place in a considerably more modern world, the setting doesn’t offer much beyond a sense of place and time. Instead, the film attempts to recreate the magic of its predecessor without quite understanding what made it so special. In trying to resuscitate its charm, it produces something flimsier and altogether blander, even if there are still some entertaining bits to be found.
READ ALSO: Film Review: “The Devil Wears Prada 2” Is A Fitting Update To A Classic
The Enchanting Spell Of The First Film
I’m going to be writing this with the assumption that my readers are familiar with or have watched Practical Magic. Though here’s a brief summary to keep things cohesive: the film centers on the Owens family, mainly run by women who grapple with a curse cast by their ancestor, a witch who was jilted and abandoned by her lover. The curse? Every man who falls in love with an Owens woman will meet their death at an undetermined time, but with certainty. Fun!
Such a premise isn’t here for misery’s sake, though. Practical Magic wraps it around the gently profound adage that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. The first film sees the two Owens sisters coping with this reality in different ways: the pragmatic Sally (Sandra Bullock), adamant about never falling for a man, and the romantic, flighty Gillian (“Gilly”), whose many trysts are her way of loving without settling for the potential of heartbreak. Sally eventually falls in love and has a family of her own before loss makes her harden once more, at least until attractive-and-sensitive police officer and investigator Gary Hallet (Aidan Quinn) breaks through her defenses. Gilly, meanwhile, is swept away by the alluring bad-boy Jimmy Angelov, who turns out to be a scarily abusive man all too familiar to many women then and today.
Despite the cynicism of its storyline, the film finds plenty of levity in the sweet, realistic bond between the sisters and their witch aunts, Aunt Fran and Aunt Jet (Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest). Sisterhood and womanhood become central to the film: the idea that relationships with the strong women in our lives can grant a sense of deep fulfillment despite an isolating curse. Pair this with the touching scene where the town’s women—who had spent much of the movie persecuting and teasing the Owens sisters for being witches—gather to help Gilly get rid of Jimmy Angelov (as it turns out everyone just wanted to be a witch and live in a cool house), and you have something that shows you both the complexities and rewards of female bonds.
In the end, the long-running Owens curse is broken not through a kiss from a prince, but when the neighborhood come together to help the sisters, joining hands and calling upon the Owens women who came before them. It’s through that collective strength, rather than romantic salvation, that the curse is finally broken: women choosing to help each other rather than pull each other down. Trite, sure, but still very true; there’s a playful earnestness to the entire film that has you rooting for things to unravel the way they do, no matter how many times you rewatch it (timely that it’s on Netflix at the time of this writing).
On a more technical level, a warm, hazy look dominates much of the film’s frames, a nostalgic signature that we lost when modern films started adopting a dull, gray, polished look. The charming small-town sets, simple yet effective world building, mystical yet stylish ’90s wardrobe, and needle drops set to Stevie Nicks complete the package, giving you a movie that feels like the equivalent of a warm bowl of soup or a pumpkin spice latte.
What Practical Magic 2 Adds And What It Misses
Now take everything I mentioned in the previous section and undo it. Or, ask someone to recreate what they remember from the first film without re-watching it, then transplant it into a sequel set in today’s milieu. What you get is something that tries to be ambitious with higher stakes, a new antagonist, and the introduction of darker magic, yet fails to really capture or add to what the first Practical Magic managed to set up.
Somehow, the curse wasn’t actually broken, which immediately nullifies the effect of the first film in favor of a new conflict. Even stranger, its conflicts are repeated in slightly different contexts: Sally decides to make her young daughters forget all about magic, not unlike how she prevented them from knowing about it in the first film, and orders Gilly and her aunts to follow suit. She hardens once more, undoing her entire arc from the first film, only to go through a similar situation again: learning to open her heart to another man, played by a suave Lee Pace who makes for great fanservice, but not much else.
Sally’s daughters grow up and live “normal lives” until the curse rears its ugly head again, threatening the life of her daughter Kylie’s (Joey King) boyfriend, Gideon (Xolo Maridueña). This pushes Kylie toward dark magic, where she makes a series of bad decisions and eventually stumbles upon a new villain whose motivations remain unclear and uncompelling. Jimmy Angelov, at the very least, was terrifying for how closely he resembled a real-world, actual bad space guy. (Also, the first film was careful not to take things too seriously, the ridiculousness of its Jimmy-Problem ingrained into the story.) This antagonist, however, feels like, as a friend I watched this with put it, “an incel without internet,” droning on about grand plans without giving us much reason to care or feel remotely threatened.
For a film about sisterhood, this sequel is good at throwing around the words “sisters” and “bond” and all that without actually showing us what they mean. Kylie’s more level-headed nurse-in-training sister, Antonia (Maisie Williams) spends most of the film separated from her other half and underutilized as a character, providing nothing more than a watchdog for Kylie as she sets off to do…I’m actually not quite sure, even now. Yes, she seeks to break the curse, but the specifics get muddled up when the antagonist enters the picture.
Even the film’s end, clearly meant to be the tearjerker, didn’t quite land, even if it was a nod to the bond shared between women being the real curse-breaker. Don’t get me wrong, Bullock and Kidman’s dynamic remains quite fun; likewise, the aunts, played by Channing and Wiest, remain some of the best parts of the film. Though there’s only so much performers can do with a flimsy script that gets so carried away in the mayhem of “dark magic” and supposedly bigger issues.
Costumes have also lost their charm, save for a few cute ensembles worn by Kidman, but such is the case with many of today’s modern “sequels.” That warm, hazy, grainy glow of the 1998 film has been replaced by—you guessed it—sharp, lackluster, dull cinematography. The Stevie Nicks needle drops were, at least, still on point. As for the Olivia Rodrigo song (and make no mistake, I’m a huge fan), it turned into something a little more comedic and soap operatic than what was probably intended.
If you just want to return to the world of the Owens family, then Practical Magic 2 might scratch that itch, or that yearning for familiar comforts. I’m not saying a sequel has to outdo its predecessor, but it does carry the responsibility to at least add to and honor its legacy with something substantial or well-wrought, even if wholly different or subversive. What you get here, instead, is more a pale reenactment of something (better) that we’ve seen before.
“Practical Magic 2” is now screening in Philippine cinemas.
Photos courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures (unless specified)
Frequently Asked Questions
Practical Magic 2 returns to the Owens family, raising the stakes with darker magic, a new antagonist, and a new conflict surrounding the Owens curse. The story follows Sally’s daughters, Kylie and Antonia, as they contend with the curse and its consequences.
While Practical Magic 2 attempts to recreate the nostalgic charm and magic of the 1998 film, it struggles to capture what made the original so special. The sequel revisits several of its predecessor’s conflicts and themes without adding much nuance or substance of its own.
Yes. The sequel introduces darker magic and a new antagonist whose grand plans and motivations ultimately feel unclear and uncompelling. Unlike Jimmy Angelov, whose abusive nature made him a frighteningly recognizable villain, the new antagonist does little to create a genuine sense of threat.
Yes. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman return as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens. Their dynamic remains one of the more entertaining parts of the sequel, while Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest also return as Aunt Fran and Aunt Jet.
Practical Magic 2 may scratch the itch for viewers who simply want to return to the world of the Owens family and revisit its familiar comforts. However, while a sequel doesn’t necessarily have to outdo its predecessor, it should add to and honor its legacy with something substantial or well-wrought. Practical Magic 2 ultimately feels more like a pale reenactment of something better that we’ve seen before.
