[I review the "Practical Magic" sequel and the psychological thriller "Verity"]
Practical Magic 2 (2026)
This sequel to "Practical Magic," carries on the story of Gillian and Sally Owens, two witches from a multi-generational family of witches that has been cursed to be loveless.
If you are a regularl reader of my reviews, you know I am not a fan of sequels. Yes, I understand when a movie is popular, it is difficult to say no to making more money on it, but as a moviegoer I am offended by ruining a perfectly good first movie with an often inferior second one. And sometimes there is a third and fourth...So unless you are making "The Godfather Part II," I say no to sequels.
So naturally I was already in a negative space going into this sequel of "Practical Magic," and I couldn't help but ask, "Did we need a sequel to this film?" When it first came out in 1998, the first film grossed almost $100 million but it cost almost $75 million to make. So it was hardly a blockbuster. And it got bad reviews. But you can't anticipate the power of cult status and supposedly that is what happened with this film which I guess is why 28 years later we have this sequel. And we have the two stars who are also 28 years older and looking for a movie to star in, which is not that easy for, ahem, women of a certain age in Hollywood.
Since it has also been 28 years since I have seen the first one and also being a woman of a certain age, I couldn't remember any of it. So if you are like me, here are the rudiments of the first film:
Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gilllian Owens (Nicole Kidman) are part of a Massachusetts family with a witch, Maria Owens, as an ancestor, so I guess that makes them witches too and because of that the family is not popular in the town. The family also has a curse upon it that any man who falls in love with an Owens woman will die. Sally decides to never fall in love and Gillian can't wait to fall in love. The sisters move on in their lives, but before leaving each other, they use a blood spell to swear to always be faithful to one another, grow old together, and die at the same time. There is drama with Gillian being abused by a man and needing Sally to help her get rid of him, and in so doing, Sally finds love. The sisters reunite in their hometown and with their witchy aunts, Jet (Dianne Wiest) and Frances (Stockard Channing) and the townspeople finally accept them. But is the family curse still in effect?
And that is where we left them in the first film.
Now here we are with the sequel. It is 28 years later and Sally and Gillian are back in their home town. Sally's husband has died, and grief-stricken, Sally doesn't want anything to do with magic and casts a final spell to make sure her daughters Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams, who you may recognize from "Game of Thrones") also don't have anything to do with magic, hoping the curse - you know, that one about any man falling in love with an Owens girl will die - will not affect them.
Later, Aunt Jet has been trying to break the curse with the Book of Raven but the important pages, as in the pages called "How to Break the Curse," are sealed shut. Jet is on her last legs but leaves a note for her sister Frances to continue trying to break the curse. Jet dies on her birthday.
After Jet dies, the family holds a wake at the house. There, Sally and Gillian meet Kylie's boyfriend, Gideon (Xolo Mariduena). Kylie tells him she loves him - uh-oh- and the next morning - yep. He is hit by a car and left in a coma and that's when Kylie and Antonia find out about the curse. Angry, Kylie steals the Book of Raven and heads off to England to search for Professor Ian Wright (Lee Pace) who Aunt Frances tells her could help her break the curse. When she arrives in the town of Thornfield, Maria Owens' birthplace, Kylie meets Tom (Solly McLeod), who offers to help her. Meanwhile, Sally and Gillian race to England and everything comes to a head and a dark family secret is revealed.
Does the curse get broken?
Well, here is a more important question. Did we need this sequel?
If you loved the first film, then you will probably say "Yes!" And if you have missed Sandra and Nicole on the big screen, then perhaps. They are both good actresses and they look great. A little plastic surgery and being filmed through gauze doesn't hurt. I know, I'm bad. But you really have to want to see them to watch this because there is not much of a plot - find Kylie and overturn the curse - and the movie is too long to sustain that. And the movie is more about Kylie than Sally and Gillian. I actually felt sorry for Maisie who was left behind with Gideon and didn't have much to do in this despite her "Game of Thrones" credentials.
However, there were some things I liked.
Based on Alice Hoffman's "The Book of Magic" and adapted by Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel and directed by Suzanne Bier, the movie could stand on its own without having to see the first one, which is a good thing for a sequel, though exposition could have been better and would have helped us care more about these characters. I liked that Sally was a librarian. The production values were first-rate as in the film was pretty to look at. I liked the beautiful English village and countryside. But most of all I liked the message: No magic is stronger than a sister's love.
Rosy the Reviewer says...but did I like this movie enough to recommend it? Did we need this sequel? No. (Available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime and Apple+)
Verity (2026)
A struggling writer is asked to ghostwrite for a best-selling author who can no longer write.
Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) is a struggling writer in New York City. While on her way to a meeting with a publisher, a bike messenger is hit by a car and blood splashes everywhere including all over her. A handsome stranger hustles her off to a restroom in a nearby coffee shop and gives her his shirt so she can make her meeting. When she arrives at the meeting, wouldn't you know (huge movie cliche), there the guy is.
Lowen is at the meeting with the publisher because they are looking for someone to finish a popular series by Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), who has been in a car accident and can no longer write. That guy who helped Lowen is Jeremy, Verity's husband (Josh Hartnett). Verity writes twisted thrillers from the perspective of villains, and Lowen has been chosen to ghostwrite because she writes in a similar style to Verity's and Verity loved one of her books. And the publisher needs a ghostwriter because they don't want fans to think the series is over. They need three more books to complete the series. Lowen is offered $75,000 per book. How can she say no? So she doesn't and off she goes to Jeremy and Verity's house in a remote part of Vermont. And can I ask why movies like this always take place in big houses in the middle of nowhere?
Anyway, let the real life twisted thriller begin.
Lowen is staying at the house with Jeremy, a paralyzed and catatonic Verity and their son Crew (Brady Wagner). Jeremy is grieving the death of their daughter, Harper, Crew's twin, who died in a canoe accident. Lowen is there to see the notes that Verity has kept for upcoming novels, but c'mon, we know something is going to happen between Lowen and Jeremy. But before that, Lowen just happens to discover a thumb drive in a pack of cigarettes. Huh? Very convenient for our plot because this thumb drive is a secret autobiographical journel written by Verity where she spills her guts about her obsession with Jeremy and some horrible things she has done, all played out in flashbacks with Verity's voice as voice over while Lowen reads. Meanwhile, Lowen thinks she sees Verity looking at her and Crew tells her that Verity talks to him. Mmmm. Lowen starts to think that Verity might be faking it.
So the film started out kind of spooky, and I was giving it a chance, despite some wonky dialogue and thriller cliches. And yes, Jeremy and Lowen get together and I thought we were going to have some kind of dark love triangle, too, but then Lowen finds a letter written by Verity that turns everything upside down and is a big twist that made absolutely no sense, and ruined everything for me, though I saw some of it coming from a mile away.
Verity means "the quality or state of being true, real, or accurate." And since one of our protagonists is named Verity, the film seems to be trying to make a point about truth and how it can be manipulated. Veriry makes some wild claims about her life and about Jeremy. Is she telling the truth? What are we to believe?
Well, you know what? I didn't really care because this film had so many cliches, coincidences and holes in it that I lost interest. And it was slow going. Not much happens until the last 30 minutes and even then, the film really lost me. Based on Colleen Hoover's novel of the same name and adapted by Nick Antosca and directed by Mike Showalter, the story is way over-the-top and far-fetched. It has the same feel as movies like "Gone Girl" and "The Housemaid," but not as good. Dakota Johnson is a lovely actresss who can do a lot but doesn't have much to do here and neither does Anne Hathaway. Kind of a waste of two beautiful, talented actresses.
Rosy the Reviewer says...Verity writes twisted thrillers and I think this was supposed to be one of those. Twisted? Yes, literally. Thriller, no. I thought it was kind of dumb, but if you like campy, soapy and sexy movies, you might enjoy it. (For rent or purchase on Amazon Prime)
