Practical Magic is a story of two sisters who lost their parents at a very young age. After their parent’s death, both of the sisters were raised by their aunts, “Aunt Francis & Aunt Jet”, who, along with raising them, taught them how to use their ancestral magic. The Owens are descendants of ancient witches who were capable of using magical powers that are beyond the imagination of normal human beings. Growing up was not easy for both sisters. Just because they were able to use magic doesn’t mean their life was easy.
The Owens family was cursed, and many believe that “the men they will fall in love with will die at a very early age”. As the sisters grew up, they just got better and better at using their magic, but at the same time, they came across an evil spirit who wanted to destroy their family. How Sally and Gillian will fight against the evil spirit & how they will break their age-old family curse from the rest of the story.
Although the movie was poorly received by the critics. But the audience loved the movie, especially the movie’s main themes of love, family, and friendship, which, unfortunately, the critics failed to see. Apart from the storyline, the audience appreciated its lead characters and their beautiful chemistry. But Practical Magic clearly failed to do wonders at the box office, it didn’t even recover its budget. But whatever the case might be, after many years of its release, the film is now considered a cult classic & audiences simply love the movie.
Even After 24 years of its release, Practical Magic is still many people’s favorite movie.
It’s that time of year! Happy Practical Magic month! #PracticalMagic pic.twitter.com/lPqVqWuxvE
— 🦦Amanda🐘 (@manders4181) October 1, 2022
Practical Magic Filming Locations
Practical Magic filming started on April 6, 1998. The film was majorly shot on Whidbey Island & Sand Juan Island, while many of its artificial sets were built in California. One of the most important elements of the movie is the Owen family house which depicts their family culture. So the crew decided to build the house on San Juan Island. According to some sources, it took the production crew about a year to perfectly build the Owen family house. Many of the artificial sets that were built in California were bought to San Juan Island and were placed inside the house & after the film ended, the whole house was torn down.
While the other important scene from the movie, which portrayed a small town, was filmed in downtown Coupeville “a seaside port town from the Victorian Era” located on Whidbey island.
There was a drunk scene in the movie where the Owen family woman got drunk and spitted insults. According to Sandra Bullock, for this scene, they got really drunk and had a very hard Tequila, and it was Nicole Kidman who brought it on the set.
Sandra Bullock, in one of her interviews, mentioned that during their shoot, they felt a supernatural presence. She claimed that while shooting, several times they heard some weird supernatural noises coming out from nowhere, which was really strange.
Practical Magic Movie Review
This 1998 fantasy romance movie that is based on the novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman tells the story of two siblings of the Owens family who got raised by their aunts & they must learn magic in order to fight against an evil spirit that wants to destroy their family.
Well, Practical Magic is not just a movie. It is nostalgic for all those who were born around the 90s & grew up watching this classic. This movie had everything from romance to tragedy, friendship, family, etc. The elements of fantasy and horror were beautifully embedded into the movie. It has all the elements that are necessary for a perfect family movie that the whole family could watch on the weekends.
Well, the movie failed at the box office, and many critics thought the movie was a mess. They said it didn’t know what genre it was playing in. Sometimes there is horror then suddenly, it shifts to comedy and romance. Their argument was that this movie wasn’t consistent enough in its tonality.
But in spite of bad reviews & box office failure, Practical Magic still holds a special place among lots of movie lovers, for them, this movie is something special. So if you haven’t watched this movie yet, go and check it out, who knows, you might love it.
