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Practical Magic

Practical Magic

Romance · Comedy · Fantasy · 1998

Sally and Gillian Owens, born into a magical family, have mostly avoided witchcraft themselves. But when Gillian's vicious boyfriend, Jimmy Angelov, dies unexpectedly, the Owens sisters give themselves a crash course in hard magic. With policeman Gary Hallet growing suspicious, the girls struggle to resurrect Angelov -- and unwittingly inject his corpse with an evil spirit that threatens to end their family line.

Movie details

Practical Magic

“For two sisters from a family of witches, falling in love is the trickiest spell of all.”

1998 Romance · Comedy · Fantasy 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

Sally and Gillian Owens, born into a magical family, have mostly avoided witchcraft themselves. But when Gillian's vicious boyfriend, Jimmy Angelov, dies unexpectedly, the Owens sisters give themselves a crash course in hard magic. With policeman Gary Hallet growing suspicious, the girls struggle to resurrect Angelov -- and unwittingly inject his corpse with an evil spirit that threatens to end their family line.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Practical Magic?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Griffin Dunne

Written by

Robin Swicord · Akiva Goldsman · Adam Brooks

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock

Sally Owens

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman

Gillian Owens

Stockard Channing

Stockard Channing

Aunt Frances

Dianne Wiest

Dianne Wiest

Aunt Jet

Goran Višnjić

Goran Višnjić

Jimmy Angelov

Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn

Gary Hallet

Evan Rachel Wood

Evan Rachel Wood

Kylie Owens

Court is in session

Put Practical Magic on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.