Did you think the 20 years that flew by between the release of “The Devil Wears Prada” and “The Devil Wears Prada 2” were significant? That pales in comparison to the 28 (!) years that have passed since “Practical Magic” hit theaters in 1998 and the cleverly titled sequel, “Practical Magic 2” (WB), opened in 2026.
Widowed witch Sally (an “ageless” Sandra Bullock) is the mother of two daughters – Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams). Sally still lives with her more free-spirited sister Jillian (soft-focused age-defier Nicole Kidman), and beloved elderly aunts Jet (Dianne Wiest) and Francis (Stockard Channing). They dwell in the Massachusetts family homestead, not far from Boston (and not Salem by name). The women are all survivors of the Owens curse and have left a trail of dead male lovers in their wake.
There is more death yet to come. The clicking deathwatch beetle indicates it will be Aunt Jet first on the same night that the women are celebrating her birthday. Sally’s decision to shelter Kylie and Antonia from the curse backfires when Kylie’s boyfriend Gideon (Xolo Maridueña) is hit by a car and remains comatose in a hospital (conveniently the same one in which Antonia works). And because Kylie, intent on reversing the curse, absconded to England with the lethal Book of the Raven that was intended for Franny, Sally fears her daughter may be next.
In pursuit of Kylie, Sally and Gillian meet up with Professor Ian Wright (hot queer actor Lee Pace), a magic specialist in London. It’s determined that Kylie has left for the countryside on her quest. Sally, Gillian, and Ian follow hoping to catch her before something terrible happens to her. Of course, they almost arrive too late, as they discover when they see Tom (Solly McLeod), who is also an Owens descendant, is preparing to leach Kylie’s powers from her in a violent ceremony. Is it really a spoiler to say that good triumphs over evil? If so, apologies all around.
Director Susanne Bier doesn’t have any better luck with the source material than her predecessor, Griffin Dunne, did with the original “Practical Magic.” The special effects are far from special. The acting is lightweight at best. Not even queer actor Pace, whom we first see in the altogether, can save the day. It seems Bier didn’t know how to wrap it up, and at well over two hours long, “Practical Magic 2” breaks some of its crowd-pleasing spell.
Rating: C
