Practical Magic flopped at the box office back in 1998 but came to earn cult status, largely for those in search of cozy fall movies to watch with midnight margarita in hand. Nearly three decades later, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are back as the Owens sisters for Practical Magic 2. I was expecting critics to be charmed, if not by nostalgia then possibly by the objectively talented cast. Instead, most of the reviews are full of not-so-glamorous descriptions.
Maisie Williams and Joey King now portray Sally’s two daughters, who become aware of their family’s abilities and the curse that haunts the Owens women. There also seems to be a curse haunting this franchise with critics, because Witney Seibold of SlashFilm rates it just 4 out of 10, calling it “staggeringly unfunny, and really sloppily assembled.” Sally and Gillian are “unbearably obnoxious,” Seibold’s Practical Magic 2 review says, as she writes:
Susanne Bier’s witchcraft comedy Practical Magic 2 is a chittering, shabby, directionless margarita vacation. It’s a rambling, shabby-chic hang-out movie for divorced Gen-X aunts who own ‘It’s Wine O’Clock Somewhere’ t-shirts. The film contains a lot of bromides about the ineffable powers of sisterhood and femalekind’s super/natural advantage over their male counterparts, but really the movie is waiting, waiting, waiting to get to the moment when Sally Owens and her sister Gillian can wiggle their fingers at a blender, and magically blend up some of their patented ‘midnight margaritas’ while Harry Nilsson’s ‘Coconut’ plays on the soundtrack.
Anna McKibbin of AV Club grades Practical Magic 2 a D- ahead of its release on the 2026 movie calendar, saying that abandoning New England for cold and gray London gives the sequel an “antiseptic harshness.” The script constantly stalls out on “a series of convoluted contrivances” as it searches for an audience who doesn’t exist. In McKibbin’s words:
Even if Practical Magic was a beloved part of your childhood, it’s hard to see what would excite you about this sequel. Bier’s addition to the franchise is as bizarrely paced as the original and significantly less charming. ‘We’re all pallbearers of our ancestor’s pain,’ explains [Lee] Pace’s character in a needless piece of exposition. But this sentiment feels applicable to the kind of moviegoing that Practical Magic 2 typifies.
Todd Gilchrist of Variety says sometimes the best way to honor a beloved experience is to just leave it alone. Rather than making Practical Magic 2 an improvement over the critically panned first movie, Susanne Bier is content to have Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman retread the original for this “overlong, predictable” sequel. Gilchrist continues:
The two leads play the hits, repeating many of the elements that made the first film beloved — and, in the process, inadvertently exposing why not everyone thought the original was that great in the first place. … At 130 minutes, the sequel is a full half-hour longer than its predecessor, and if you felt that the first film was unhurried in its presentation of ideas, this one takes forever to arrive at an inevitable destination.
Not everyone is disappointed in the finished product, however. While Amelia Emberwing of The Wrap admits Practical Magic 2 has its issues, it also serves as a “fantastical reunion,” writing:
Despite some warts, Bier’s Practical Magic 2 brings the sisters, the aunts and a relentlessly charming Pace together in a flawed but magical film that will not let go of your face until you remember to always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck and fall in love whenever you can. Only time will tell if Practical Magic 2 has the staying power of its (also flawed) predecessor. But as far as this witch is concerned, the cast and crew deliver more than enough reasons to head to the theater, pick up a midnight margarita and get swept away all over again.
Alison Foreman of IndieWire is also satisfied with the sequel, rating it a B+. While it falls into the trap of mistaking alternate scenery for fresh ideas, there’s obvious appeal to watching Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock do literally anything together. That goes for Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, too, as Foreman writes:
Bier recognizes the pure joy of seeing these women drinking margaritas again, resulting in a vivid and sweet celebration that gradually reframes aging as a process of gaining power rather than losing it. That may explain why Practical Magic 2 succeeds where so many other legacy sequels tend to feel superfluous. These revivals can be enchanting, and even quietly revolutionary, when they exist not to overextend an already popular piece of Hollywood IP — but to acknowledge that a niche audience has kept something special alive precisely because it was always valuable and deserves recognition.
Many people will surely find the charm in revisiting these characters three decades later, but critics overall have not been wowed by the sequel. Practical Magic 2 is premiering to a 36% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, don’t let these reviews stop you from drawing your own conclusions. The movie hits the big screen on Friday, September 11.
