Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman reunite for Practical Magic 2

📽🔮 28 years is a long time to wait for a sequel, but Practical Magic 2 arrives with one thing firmly intact: the magic. Based on Alice Hoffman’s The Book of Magic, the fourth and final novel in her Practical Magic series, the film reunites Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens — alongside Joey King and Maisie Williams — and leans hard into the whimsy that defined the original.

The plot: The Owens family curse is back, threatening another generation of witches and the men they love. When tragedy strikes, the family is pulled into a world of dark magic, sending Sally, Gillian, and Sally’s daughter Kylie (King) on a search all the way across the pond for a way to finally break the curse. The sequel expands the Owens mythology while keeping the emotional core firmly rooted in family, sisterhood, and the lengths we go to protect the people we love.

What we liked: Bullock and Kidman remain the heart of the story, with their chemistry doing much of the heavy lifting. King also brings plenty of energy as Kylie. While the film balances comedy with some surprisingly emotional moments, the final act in particular delivers genuine tearjerkers without abandoning the fun. There’s also something comforting about how unapologetically sentimental the movie is. It knows this is a story about family bonds, magic, and big feelings, and it’s not afraid to lean into any of them. Even the CGI, which could easily have gone very wrong, fits the film’s playful visual language.

What we didn’t like: Some of those big feelings, however, are spelled out a little too often, with the constant declarations feeling less heartfelt and more like the movie is making sure we understood the assignment. The romance also felt a tad rushed, with Sally’s love interest getting little development before the relationship takes off. Meanwhile, Williams’ Antonia is left with little to do, despite being positioned as part of the next generation of Owens witches.

The verdict: Practical Magic 2 isn’t here to cast a complicated new spell. It’s here to bring audiences back to a familiar, magical world — and, for the most part, it works. It’s cheesy, occasionally clunky, and sometimes far too eager to tell us how we should feel. But there’s genuine warmth underneath it all, and it successfully recaptures the charm of the original. That nostalgia may be spellbinding enough — it may not reinvent the cauldron, but it knows exactly what its audience came back for.

WHERE TO WATCH- You can catch the film at VOX Cinemas at City Center Almaza, Mall of Egypt, and City Center Alexandria. The film is also screening at Stars Cinema (City Stars), Scene Cinemas (Cairo Festival City and District 5), and Premiere Cinemas. Watch the trailer on YouTube (watch, runtime: 2:41).