Critics weren’t entirely spirited away by the return to the Wiccan world of the Owens sisters, which follows 28 years after the autumnal classic.

*Practical Magic 2 *first reviews: Critics say Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock shine in a not-so-spellbinding sequel

Critics weren’t entirely spirited away by the return to the Wiccan world of the Owens sisters, which follows 28 years after the autumnal classic.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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September 10, 2026 1:09 a.m. ET

Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic 2’. Credit:

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

- The first reviews for *Practical Magic 2 *have arrived.

- Critics praised the performances of the franchise’s anchor stars, Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock.

- They are not as impressed with the movie overall.

Set the cauldron to simmer, because critics largely found *Practical Magic 2 *tepid.

The first reviews for director Susanne Bier and co-writers Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett, and Kelly Marcel’s long-awaited return to the world of *Practical Magic** *have finally arrived. It’s been 28 years since the spellbinding original, which performed decently upon its 1998 premiere, but has gradually solidified its place in multiple classic canons — ’90s cinema, witch films, sister films, flicks for maximal autumnal cozy vibes.

The original’s shining stars, Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, have returned for magic-making as sisters Gillian and Sally Owens. Their kooky aunts, played by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, also reprise their roles, alongside Joey King and Maisie Williams as Sally’s daughters — now older and with new faces — and new characters played by Lee Pace and Xolo Maridueña.

*Practical Magic 2 *swaps the original’s quest to vanquish the vengeful spirit of Gillian’s murdered ex for a globetrotting adventure to both protect and embrace the family magic. With so many different ingredients yet so much the same, how did the sequel stew taste to critics? Read on for the good, the bad, and everything else.

Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock star as Gillian and Sally Owens in ‘Practical Magic 2’.

Praise for *Practical Magic 2 *is in no short supply among the battery of reviews dispatched from the critical front lines on Wednesday. One aspect of the film that virtually all critics agreed on were the charmed performances by Kidman, Bullock, and the rest of the cast.

*The Wrap*’s Amelia Emberwing praised the “sheer, unflappable chemistry between two actresses that clearly adore each other,” while Kristen Lopen singled out Kidman for acclaim in *The Film Maven*: “The one holding things together is Kidman, who at least seems to understand who Gillian Owens is, even if it’s not on the page.” The Australian Oscar winner not only “continues to have fun with the character, deftly turning some of the lines into humorous asides,” Lopen writes, she “also forces Bullock to come alive in the scenes they’re in together.”

Dianne Wiest, Sandra Bullock, Stockard Channing, and Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic 2’.

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

Among the new cast members, Joey King merited the most buzz from critics — not entirely surprising, given the ample amount of screen time she’s afforded compared to Williams, Maridueña, and even Pace.

“King is the most surprisingly enjoyable aspect of the sequel. Her characterization of the free-spirited, lovelorn Kylie adds a coming-of-age breath of fresh air,” Nandita Joshi writes in *The Rolling Tape*, praising her Kylie Owens, Sally’s daughter, as “her best performance yet.”

Maisie Williams and Joey King star as Antonia and Kylie Owens in ‘Practical Magic 2’.

While most critics harped on the film’s lengthy runtime, fast-and-loose treatment of the time elapsed in-universe between the first and second films, the disenchanted aesthetic compared with the intoxicating original, and the decision to split the characters up and leave some (Williams is named the most) with too little to do, there was a feeling shared by many that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. Adrian Horton summed this contention up in the close to her review in *The Guardian*: “The overarching, if occasionally overwritten [theme] of feminine solidarity through cyclical adversity is winning enough... But there’s just enough magic here to still, despite everything, cast a peculiar spell.”

You can probably tell from that lengthy list of gripes that critical opinion generally skewed negative on the film, though not passionately so.

Angie Han argues in her review for *The Hollywood Reporter** *that the film’s script “seems in danger of falling apart,” in particular where its plot-heavy treatment of its 130-minute runtime is concerned. Rushing from beat to beat “precludes the sort of complex, nuanced storytelling required to lend the narrative any emotional heft.”

Liz Shannon Miller digs in even further, writing for *Consequence** *that the film’s opening moments dedicated to explaining how the Owens family curse caught up to (and killed) Aidan Quinn’s Gary Hallet marks “an abrupt reversal of the first movie’s happy ending,” ensuring “that *Practical Magic 2* begins on a sour note, one that makes the movie’s subsequent attempts at lighter beats feel jarring. This would be more forgivable in a more coherent movie, but unfortunately we’ve got one of those screenplays where characters are prone to making bad choices based on poor logic, and contrivance drives more of the plot than one would hope.”

Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, and Lee Pace in ‘Practical Magic 2’.

Todd Gilchrist summed up a good deal of the criticism of the film in the opening paragraph of his *Variety** *review, writing, “As cumbersome and overlong as the 28-year wait between the 1998 original film and its sequel, *Practical Magic 2* serves as a next-generation reminder that sometimes the best way to let a beloved experience live on is by leaving it behind in one’s memory.”

For IGN, Tara Bennett agreed that the film “isn’t a terrible second chapter,” but the viewer is”left at the end with the feeling that a much better sequel, with more deeply considered and well-crafted versions of the Owens women” may have been possible. For Bennett, the film’s “cardinal sin is separating the main cast,” as Kidman, Bullock, and King’s characters go galavanting through England while Channing, Wiest, and Williams’ are left at home. “In particular, Williams is done dirty, given nothing of note to do, which is a travesty,” she writes.

Everything Else

Several critics praised aspects of the *Practical Magic 2* that could have gone unnoticed, given attention paid otherwise to its cast and script. “There are pleasures to be found here. The glittering jewel-toned aesthetic, Stevie Nicks-inspired costuming and commitment to aspirational fairy-tale architecture remain a joy,” Leila Latif writes in *Empire*.

Taylor Gates noted in her review for *Collider** *that the actresses who played Kylie and Antonia as children in the original film weren’t asked back for the sequel. “One can’t help but wonder what a different direction” the film may have taken by including the original Kylie, Evan Rachel Wood — “perhaps one more creative and adult.”

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic 2’.

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

In her review for *IndieWire*, Alison Foreman repeats Aunt Jet’s wise advice to her sister and nieces: “Live a little. Live a *lot*.” So “when it comes to conjuring the Owens back on the big screen, Bullock and Kidman have already done the hard part. So, live a little! And let yourself fall for *Practical Magic* like you’ve never been hurt before.”

*Practical Magic 2 *releases in select theaters on Sept. 10, before rolling out internationally on Sept. 11.

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Source: “EW Movie”