entertainment
February 9, 2026
'Reconciliation across difference': why Practical Magic is my feelgood movie
The next entry in our ongoing series of writers highlighting their favourite comfort films is a journey back to 1998 with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman
TL;DR
- Practical Magic, released in 1998, was initially dismissed as tonally confused but is now appreciated as a genre chimera.
- The film follows two witch sisters, Sally and Gillian, who are cursed so that any man they truly love will die.
- The curse also represents societal judgment against women who refuse to behave predictably.
- After killing an abusive lover, the sisters must learn to ask for help and work with others to overcome their predicament.
- The film's ultimate message is about the importance of reconciliation across difference for survival.
- Practical Magic is presented as a comfort film that insists adversity can be overcome and loneliness remedied.
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