By Staff Writer | September 16, 2026
Nearly three decades after Practical Magic first introduced audiences to the Owens family, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are back as Sally and Gillian Owens in Practical Magic 2.
The big question was always going to be whether Hollywood could recapture the strange, cozy, wonderfully offbeat charm of the 1998 cult favorite.
The answer is complicated.
Practical Magic 2 isn’t a disaster. In fact, there are stretches when it feels exactly like the movie longtime fans have been waiting for. Bullock and Kidman still have tremendous chemistry, the Owens family remains entertaining, and the movie delivers plenty of witchy atmosphere.
But the sequel also demonstrates how difficult it is to recreate the magic of a movie that became beloved largely because of its imperfections.
The result is an uneven but often enjoyable return to the Owens family.
Sally and Gillian Are Still the Heart of the Movie
The best thing about Practical Magic 2 is also the most obvious: Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are back together.
Bullock’s Sally remains the more cautious and anxious of the two sisters, while Kidman’s Gillian continues to bring an unpredictable, free-spirited energy to their relationship.
Nearly 30 years haven’t erased the chemistry between the actresses.
Their scenes together are easily the film’s strongest.
There’s a comfortable rhythm to their performances that can’t be manufactured. They can exchange a look, deliver a sarcastic line or argue over something ridiculous, and suddenly the movie feels like the Practical Magic audiences remember.
That chemistry is what keeps the sequel afloat when the story begins to wander.
The Los Angeles Times similarly singled out Bullock as the emotional center of the film and praised the continuing connection between the two stars.
A New Generation of Owens Women
This time, the story expands the Owens family by bringing Sally’s daughters, Kylie and Antonia, into the center of the story.
Joey King plays Kylie, while Maisie Williams portrays Antonia.
The younger characters give the sequel a chance to explore how the Owens family’s magical history affects another generation.
Kylie becomes particularly important when the family’s curse threatens to interfere with her romantic life.
That storyline sends the characters on a journey that takes them beyond the familiar world of the original film and into England.
It’s a logical way to expand the mythology, although the movie sometimes struggles to give every character enough to do.
Williams, in particular, receives considerably less material than the film’s premise initially suggests.
The Curse Returns
The sequel’s biggest narrative challenge is that the original movie seemed to provide a satisfying conclusion to the Owens family’s curse.
Practical Magic 2 has to find a way to reopen that story.
The movie establishes that Sally’s attempt to protect her daughters from the family’s magical history didn’t eliminate the problem after all.
When Kylie falls in love, the old curse begins to reassert itself.
Her boyfriend Gideon, played by Xolo Maridueña, becomes caught up in the supernatural conflict, sending Kylie, Sally and Gillian searching for answers.
It’s a classic sequel setup: the previous generation thought the problem was solved, but the next generation discovers that the past isn’t finished with them.
It works reasonably well, although some of the plot mechanics feel deliberately constructed to get the characters back into the magical world.
The Return of Aunt Jet and Aunt Franny
Fans of the original will also be happy to see Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing return as Aunt Jet and Aunt Franny.
Their appearances aren’t as extensive as some fans might hope, but whenever they are on screen, they bring back some of the warmth and eccentricity that made the original so memorable.
Channing, in particular, gets some of the movie’s most enjoyable moments.
There’s something comforting about seeing these characters again after all these years.
The movie understands that Practical Magic isn’t remembered solely for its supernatural plot.
It’s remembered for the house, the family, the sisterhood, the oddball humor and those little moments that made the Owens world feel lived-in.
Lee Pace Adds Some New Magic
The sequel introduces Lee Pace as Ian Wright, an English professor with expertise in magic.
Pace fits surprisingly well into the movie’s peculiar universe.
His character provides Sally with a new romantic possibility while also helping the Owens women understand the supernatural forces they’re facing.
He’s charming enough to make the romantic storyline work without completely overwhelming the central relationship between Sally and Gillian.
The film also introduces a darker magical figure played by Solly McLeod, giving the story another layer of supernatural conflict.
The Movie Looks the Part
Visually, Practical Magic 2 understands its assignment.
There are candles, spell books, old houses, mystical locations, elaborate costumes and plenty of autumnal atmosphere.
The film knows that part of the appeal of the franchise is simply spending time in its world.
It isn’t trying to reinvent the visual language of the original.
Instead, it embraces the witchy aesthetic that helped turn the first film into a cult favorite.
Some of the supernatural effects are more elaborate than anything seen in the 1998 movie, although not every digital effect is equally convincing.
Still, the overall atmosphere works.
This is a movie that practically begs to be watched with a warm drink, a blanket and the lights turned down.
The Midnight Margaritas Are Back
It wouldn’t be Practical Magic without the family’s famous midnight margaritas.
The sequel knows exactly what fans want and doesn’t hesitate to bring back familiar elements from the original.
That’s both a strength and a weakness.
The nostalgia is undeniably fun.
But there are moments when the movie feels as if it’s checking items off a list of things fans remember.
The Guardian noted that the sequel doubles down on many of the original’s familiar ingredients, including its eccentric tonal shifts and witchy musical atmosphere.
There’s a fine line between giving fans what they want and simply repeating the past.
Practical Magic 2 occasionally crosses that line.
Where the Movie Struggles
The biggest problem is the screenplay.
At 130 minutes, the film isn’t extraordinarily long, but it feels longer than it should because the story takes several detours.
The mythology becomes increasingly complicated, and some of the rules surrounding the magic aren’t always clear.
The movie also has difficulty balancing its large ensemble.
There are three generations of Owens women, romantic subplots, supernatural mythology and new characters to introduce.
Some inevitably receive less attention.
Several critics have pointed to the sequel’s convoluted story and uneven pacing. Variety called it overlong and predictable, while other reviewers have argued that the plot doesn’t always capture the effortless oddness of the original.
But There’s Something Wonderful About It Anyway
And yet, it’s difficult to completely dislike Practical Magic 2.
There is genuine warmth here.
The movie’s central theme remains sisterhood and family, and that’s where it works best.
The supernatural elements are fun, but the emotional foundation is still the relationship between the Owens women.
Sally wants to protect her daughters.
Gillian wants Sally to stop being afraid of her own power.
Kylie wants to experience love without inheriting the pain associated with her family’s curse.
Those ideas give the movie an emotional reason to exist beyond nostalgia.
The sequel ultimately argues that you can’t protect the people you love by preventing them from experiencing life.
Sometimes you have to let them make their own mistakes.
Is It as Good as the Original?
That’s where expectations become important.
If you’re expecting Practical Magic 2 to recreate the exact feeling of watching the original for the first time, you may be disappointed.
The original was an odd mixture of romance, horror, comedy and family drama that didn’t completely make sense—but somehow became charming because of it.
The sequel is more polished.
It’s also more conventional.
That’s a strange criticism for a movie that is still filled with witches, curses, magic and midnight margaritas, but the original’s peculiar personality is difficult to duplicate.
The new film occasionally tries too hard to remind viewers why they loved the first one.
Still, Bullock and Kidman make the reunion worthwhile.
Final Verdict
Practical Magic 2 isn’t the magical home run some fans may have hoped for, but it doesn’t deserve to be dismissed as a simple nostalgia cash-in either.
There is real affection for these characters.
Bullock and Kidman remain terrific together, Joey King makes a strong addition to the Owens family, and the returning actresses provide some welcome connections to the original.
The story is occasionally overstuffed, the mythology can become confusing, and some characters deserved more screen time.
But when Sally and Gillian are together, the movie finds its spark.
And maybe that’s the point.
After nearly 30 years, Practical Magic 2 doesn’t need to convince us that magic exists.
It only needs to remind us why we loved these women in the first place.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Best thing about it: Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman’s chemistry.
Biggest weakness: An overcomplicated story that sometimes gets buried beneath its own mythology.
Best for: Fans of the original, nostalgic fall-movie viewers and anyone who still believes midnight margaritas are a perfectly reasonable magical ritual.
Bottom line: Practical Magic 2 doesn’t quite recreate the spell of the original, but there’s enough warmth, humor, sisterhood and witchy atmosphere here to make the reunion worthwhile.
