Practical Magic 2 Review: A Cast Worth More Than This Sequel

Filmoria Review

Official poster © Warner Bros. Pictures, via Wikipedia.

Quick Facts

• Director: Susanne Bier
• Writers: Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett, Kelly Marcel
• Cast: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Joey King, Xolo Maridueña, Lee Pace, Solly McLeod, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing
• Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures / New Line Cinema
• Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Drama
• Runtime: Approx. 2 hours (theatrical release)
• Release date: September 11, 2026

A Sequel Nobody Was Exactly Asking For

Twenty-five years is a long time to wait for a sequel, and it’s an even longer time to wait for one this uninspired. Practical Magic was never a good movie in the traditional sense back in 1998; it was a tonal mess that couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be a rom-com, a family drama, or a supernatural thriller, and it got savaged by critics for exactly that reason. What it had going for it was Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman clearly enjoying each other’s company on screen, plus a hazy, autumnal atmosphere that made it perfect background viewing every October. People fell in love with it anyway, on cable, on VHS, at slumber parties. That affection is the only reason this sequel exists, and it’s also the only thing keeping it watchable.

The plot picks up a generation later. Sally (Bullock) is widowed again, her new husband dead within months of the wedding, and it becomes clear the Owens family curse, the one that kills any man who falls in love with one of them, is alive and well. Rather than face it head-on, Sally does what she did before: she casts a spell to erase her daughters’ knowledge of their own heritage. It doesn’t stick. Kylie (Joey King), the more headstrong of the two sisters, falls hard for a local boy and inadvertently puts him in a coma, forcing the family to reckon with the very magic Sally spent years trying to bury.

Familiar Faces, Familiar Beats

Here’s the frustrating part: there’s a genuinely interesting movie buried somewhere in this premise. A story about a mother repeating her own mother’s mistake, about magic as inherited trauma rather than whimsical set dressing, could have been something. Instead, the screenplay, credited to three writers, which is rarely a good sign, spreads itself across too many characters and subplots to develop any of them properly. Kylie’s sister Antonia gets shuffled off into hospital-corridor scenes for most of the back half while everyone else jets to England chasing a magic book, and the film never quite explains why we should care about the England detour at all beyond giving the production an excuse for some nice countryside cinematography.

Bullock and Kidman, to their credit, still have chemistry. Watching them bicker and half-heartedly hex each other is still pleasant in the way that watching two old friends catch up over wine is pleasant, even if you can’t quite remember what they’re talking about. But director Susanne Bier, whose earlier work includes far sharper, more emotionally precise films, seems to have approached this one at arm’s length. Nothing here feels like it was made by someone who loved the material. It feels like it was made by someone who was told the material was beloved and trusted that description rather than testing it.

The One Performance Worth Talking About

If there’s a reason to sit through the film’s more sluggish stretches, it’s Lee Pace. As the mysterious stranger who complicates Sally’s already complicated life, he brings an easy, knowing charm that the rest of the film badly needs more of. His scenes with Bullock generate the only real sparks in the movie, romantic or otherwise, and you find yourself wishing the script trusted their dynamic enough to build more of the story around it instead of constantly cutting away to the England subplot. Joey King does what she can with a character who’s mostly defined by “falls in love, causes chaos,” and the aunts, played by the ever-reliable Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing, get a handful of scenes that land purely because these are two actors who know exactly how to sell a one-liner.

Everyone else is stuck servicing plot mechanics. Xolo Maridueña and Solly McLeod are likeable enough as the younger love interests, but neither is given a personality beyond “supportive boyfriend in mild peril,” which is a shame given how much screen time gets devoted to their subplots.

Does It Look and Sound the Part?

Visually, the film leans hard into the cottagecore aesthetic that’s dominated so much of streaming culture over the last few years, all candlelight, dried herbs, and oversized cardigans. It’s pleasant to look at without ever being distinctive, the kind of imagery you’d expect from a Pinterest board rather than a director with a strong point of view. The score does the same job the visuals do, competently evoking a mood without adding much texture of its own. None of it is bad. None of it particularly sticks with you once the credits roll, either.

How Does It Stack Up Against the Original?

Comparisons to the 1998 film are unavoidable, and they cut both ways. That original movie was messier, sure, jumping between broad comedy and genuine domestic horror in ways that gave critics fits at the time. But it also had a rawness to it, a willingness to sit in Sally’s grief and isolation before letting the magic and romance take over. This sequel smooths all of that out. It’s more polished, better shot, and considerably less interested in letting its characters feel anything uncomfortable for very long. Every dark turn gets resolved within a scene or two, every argument gets patched up with a knowing look and a laugh. That’s a deliberate choice, presumably aimed at a broader, cosier crowd who want their nostalgia gentle rather than gnarled. Whether that’s a fair trade depends entirely on what you loved about the original in the first place.

Where the Curse Really Bites

The core problem is pacing. A film about generational trauma and reclaiming your own history needs room to breathe, and this one keeps cutting between so many characters and locations that no single thread gets the space it needs to land emotionally. By the time the climax arrives, involving the Book of Ravens and a reckoning with the family curse, it should feel cathartic. Instead it feels rushed, like the filmmakers realised they were running long and needed to wrap things up before the runtime crept toward two and a half hours.

There’s also the matter of stakes. The original film worked, when it worked, because it committed to genuine peril and genuine grief. This sequel wants the comfort-food nostalgia of the first movie without the messier emotional beats that actually justified that nostalgia in the first place. The result is a film that’s pleasant in the moment and forgettable within a week.

The Verdict

Practical Magic 2 isn’t a disaster. It’s simply unnecessary, a legacy sequel that trades on affection for its predecessor without doing much to earn a place alongside it. Bullock, Kidman, and a scene-stealing Lee Pace make individual moments worth watching, but the film around them is overstuffed, underdeveloped, and curiously uninterested in its own better ideas. If you loved the original for its cosy autumn vibes, you’ll probably get a comfortable couple of hours out of this one too. If you were hoping for something that justified the quarter-century wait, you’ll likely leave wanting more, and not in a good way.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do I need to have seen the original Practical Magic to understand the sequel?
It helps but isn’t strictly necessary. The film recaps the essential family history early on, though longtime fans of the 1998 original will get more out of the callbacks and returning character dynamics.

2. Is Practical Magic 2 scary or more of a family drama?
It leans toward family drama with light supernatural elements rather than horror. There are a few tense sequences involving the family curse, but the tone stays closer to the cosy, autumnal register of the original than anything genuinely frightening.

3. Who is the standout performer in this movie?
Lee Pace, playing a mysterious figure who complicates Sally’s life, gives the most memorable performance in the film and shares strong chemistry with Sandra Bullock.

4. Is Practical Magic 2 worth watching in theatres?
If you’re a fan of the original, it’s a pleasant enough watch on the big screen, particularly for the England-set sequences. If you’re indifferent to the first film, it’s easy to wait for streaming.

5. Does the movie set up any further sequels?
The ending resolves the immediate family curse plot without an obvious cliffhanger, though the door is left open for the Owens family story to continue if this instalment performs well enough.