5 Movies To Watch If You Like Practical Magic

"Practical Magic 2" cast its spell on audiences from the get-go, earning over $30 million on its opening weekend. Our review found it flat and lacking the magic of the original, which hit theaters way back in 1998. Both films star Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, who happen to be witches living cursed lives without romantic love.

Bullock and Kidman were joined in the first by Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, Evan Rachel Wood, and Margo Martindale, with only Channing and Wiest reprising their roles as aunts Franny and Jet in the sequel. If you enjoyed the witchy theme of the "Practical Magic" films or are looking for movies with strong lead performances by women, check out these similarly-themed flicks. While some of them hit theaters before the original "Practical Magic," most were released in the 28 years in between that film and its sequel.

The 1992 horror/fantasy film "Death Becomes Her" is notable for its incredible star power on both sides of the camera; Robert Zemeckis directed Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, and Isabella Rosselini. The film became a cult classic and spawned a Tony Award-winning stage adaptation.

That achievement is a nice complement to the film's 1993 Oscar win for best visual effects; it was also recognized with nine Saturn award nominations that year, winning two. Rosselini's Lisle Von Rhuman provides the witchy magic in the form of an age-preserving potion that is happily guzzled by frenemies Helen (Hawn) and Madeline (Streep). 

There's a fair amount of body horror that takes it beyond the harmless fun of "Practical Magic," but "Death Becomes Her" is nevertheless an entertaining treatise on how society treats middle-aged women, especially in the entertainment industry. That framework is certainly something to keep in mind when watching the seemingly ageless Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play roles they originated nearly three decades ago in "Practical Magic 2." 

"The Craft" is not only a contemporary of the first "Practical Magic," it's probably the closest thematically on this list. Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, and Rachel True starred in this witchy coming-of-age flick. It earned a 1997 Saturn nomination as best horror film; Balk was also nominated as best supporting actress. 

"The Craft" drops new-to-Los Angeles teenager Sarah (Tunney) at a Catholic high school, where she bonds with three other young women who harbor supernatural powers and aspirations. The bond between the four female main characters and the focus on their occult leanings make this one an obvious choice for fans of the "Practical Magic" films, and the 1996 release has aged fairly well. It earned $24 million at the domestic box office but inspired a 2020 sequel, "The Craft:Legacy." The later film saw Balk cameo among a mostly new cast, including David Duchovny and Michelle Monaghan. 

No list of star-studded witchy films would be complete without "Hocus Pocus," the 1993 teen fantasy that starred Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as Salem witch sisters Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson respectively. This is another film that has picked up a devoted fanbase in the years since a middling initial reception; at the time of release Roger Ebert likened it to "attending a party you weren't invited to, and where you don't know anybody, and they're all in on a joke but won't explain it to you." 

Ebert's crankiness aside, "Practical Magic" fans will appreciate the themes of witchcraft and curses in "Hocus Pocus" along with its dynamic female leads. Disney doomed the original release of the Halloween-themed film with a July debut, where it was overwhelmed by the likes of "Jurassic Park," "The Fugitive," and "Sleepless in Seattle." Despite earning under $40 million at the box office on its original release, "Hocus Pocus" picked up more than $8 million in three subsequent re-releases in the 2020s, earning it a place in the realm of cult favorites that adults keep coming back to.

"Suspiria" might be the least well-known film on this list despite an impressive list of principal participants including director Luca Guadagnino and stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Tilda Swinton, and Dakota Johnson. The Amazon Studios production hit theaters in 2018, originating from the game-changing 1977 horror classic from Dario Argento. Thom Yorke earned multiple award nominations for his haunting score, and the film picked up Saturn award and Critic's Choice nods for best makeup among other accolades. Nevertheless, the movie has received its fair share of mixed reactions, with some feeling it prioritizes style over substance, as can be seen by its 65% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The witches in "Suspiria" are members of a German dance company, and Guadagnino's familiar body horror plays a big factor in this one. It's disturbingly delightful in terms of visual presentation, and the captivating performances of Moretz and Johnson make it well worth the two and a half hour investment.

"The Witches of Eastwick" might have the strongest pedigree of any film on this list, defying genre classification with elements of comedy, horror, and fantasy. It also might feature the strongest cast of any film outside of the "Practical Magic" movies. "The Witches of Eastwick" starred a late-'80s Murderer's Row of talent including Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer. There were plenty of big names involved off-camera as well. George Miller directed, and Michael Cristofer wrote the screenplay based on John Updike's 1984 novel. John Williams' original score earned one of the film's two Oscar nominations (the other was for best sound).

The witchy best friends will remind viewers of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in "Practical Magic," although "The Witches of Eastwick" was arguably a bigger hit. It earned almost $64 million domestically, placing it in the top 10 in a year that also saw the releases of "Platoon," "Fatal Attraction," and "Lethal Weapon." It's an enduring classic that Roger Ebert contemporaneously wrote "plays like a plausible story about implausible people. The performances sell it." 

While he devoted plenty of words to praising Nicholson's work as the Prince of Darkness, he noted that the three female leads showed "the kind of unconscious verbal timing that makes comedy out of ordinary speech. We laugh not only because they say funny things but because they give everyday things just a slight twist of irony."