Practical Magic

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

1998 1h 44m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🥫

28%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.4

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 2,024🥫28%Rotten Tomatoes●47Metacritic★6.4IMDB · 106,625

RomanceFantasyComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

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

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Cast

Sandra Bullock
Sally Owens
Nicole Kidman
Gillian Owens
Stockard Channing
Aunt Frances
Dianne Wiest
Aunt Jet
Goran Višnjić
Jimmy Angelov
Aidan Quinn
Gary Hallet
Evan Rachel Wood
Kylie Owens
Alexandra Artrip
Antonia Owens

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Griffin Dunne
Writers: Robin Swicord, Akiva Goldsman, Adam Brooks
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

28 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Practical Magic Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Griffin Dunne, shot by Andrew Dunn. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Elizabeth Kling shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman and Stockard Channing carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "For two sisters from a family of witches, falling in love is the trickiest spell of all.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Griffin Dunne directs. Andrew Dunn behind the camera. Alan Silvestri scores. Elizabeth Kling cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $75M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
228 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "Practical Magic Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Griffin Dunne, shot by Andrew Dunn. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Elizabeth Kling shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman and Stockard Channing carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "For two sisters from a family of witches, falling in love is the trickiest spell of all.".
9IMDB entry: tt0120791 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 26 themes, including "witch", "based on novel or book", "magic", "exorcism".

The technical file

Cinematography: Andrew Dunn
Original score: Alan Silvestri
Editing: Elizabeth Kling
Production design: Robin Standefer
Costume design: Judianna Makovsky
Makeup / hair: Pamela S. Westmore
VFX supervisor: John Scheele
Sound: Tom Fleischman
Stunt coordinator: Jeff Dashnaw
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $75,000,000
Box office: $94,400,000
Return: 126% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Practical Magic (1998)
Rotten Tomatoes: 28% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 47/100
IMDB rating: 6.4/10 · 106,625 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

1 win & 6 nominations total

Part of

Practical Magic Collection

Sally and Gillian Owens, born into a magical family, have mostly avoided witchcraft themselves. But when Gillian's abusive boyfriend dies unexpectedly, the sisters give themselves a crash course in hard magic.

Also by

Griffin Dunne

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2020-06-06
★ 4/10
Genuinely one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen in my entire life. I am at such a complete and total loss on Practical Magic. I might have genuinely thought I'd fallen asleep and dreamt half a different movie if it wasn't for the fact that I watched it with my roommate and she had the exact same nonsensical experience as I. Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.
CinemaSerf2026-08-12
★ 6/10
Follwing a fairly predictable family tragedy, siblings "Sally" (Sandra Bullock) and "Gillian" (Nicole Kidman) find themselves lodging with their two eccentric aunts. These two, seemingly ageless, ladies are widely believed to be witches by their local community but neither "Frances" (Stockard Channing) nor "Jet" (Dianne Wiest) really care very much. As the girls grow up, they find out some home truths and become aware of a family curse that suggests it will never bode well for any man who falls in love with a daughter of the family. Determined to make the most of this scenario, "Gillian" decides to adopt more of the Lucrezia Borgia approach to relationships whilst her sister falls in love with a local merchant. When he duly gets his comeuppance, it seems like perhaps "Gillian" was right - until, well she ends up involved with the enigmatic thug "Jimmy" (Goran Visnjic) and soon they are having to have a go at some magic they are completely ill-equipped or prepared for. Meantime, the dashing detective "Hallet" (Aiden Quinn) arrives in town trying to find out what actually did happen to the aforementioned "Jimmy" and with all fingers pointing fairly and squarely at the gals, they are going to have to think on their feet if they are to stay out of jail and to contain the spirit of a recently deceased man who is certainly enjoying getting up to no good. Can they do that without the help of the aunties? I'm betting not... It does have it's moments, this film, mostly towards the end but I felt it took far too long establishing the characters and setting up the conclusion and nowhere near enough time playing witchery games. Wiest and Channing (looking every inch like Liz Taylor, I thought) just don't feature often enough and though Kidman and Bullock do work well together latterly, they don't spend enough screen time together when the plot is in full throttle. It's all an amiable enough watch with a little mischief and an hint of spookiness, but it can't quite decide if it's a fantasy film or a romance and I felt it erred a little too much on the side of the latter.