TINY WITCH MOVIE PLUS

The house itself is surrounded by a luscious green yard, abundant with flowers and trees.

Aunt Jet and Aunt Frances dress in a slightly more conservative fashion - high necked, long-sleeved Victorian-style dresses - but even these are made out of lighter colours and shades which feel warm and inviting. Sally, and Gillian later on, are often shown in pastel colour clothing – jeans, shirts and summer dresses. Though Gillian is occasionally seen in a gothic style slip, this style is worn when she is at her lowest and trapped in an abusive relationship with boyfriend Angelo. The way in which Sally and Gillian are dressed and the set-dressing of the Owens household confirms this idea of wholesomeness. Practical Magic is one of few films which actively associates witches with goodness, kindness, and light, rather than darkness. Even within children’s films (particularly fairy-tales, witches and women who use magic are seen as predatory and something to be avoided ( The Witches, Snow White, Hocus Pocus). Horror films like The Blair Witch Project, The Conjuring and Season of the Witch depict them as vengeful outcasts seeking destruction.

Witches have historically been painted as a threat to normality and family life throughout the history of cinema.

The curse negates the need for men in the lives of the Owen women, regardless of how much they desire them. She brings her two young children (who clearly resemble herself and Gillian) to live in the Aunt’s house. The all-female living situation is repeated later in the film after Sally’s own husband succumbs to the curse and is killed. Chocolate brownies for breakfast and spells before lunchtime are the order of choice in the Owen’s household and it seems to turn out well rounded, happy children who are not disadvantaged from not having grown up in a two-parent house. We watch as Sally and Gillian have happy childhoods growing up with their Aunts, despite their parents passing. This home, despite its unorthodox set-up, is presented as a safe haven and not a threat to normal life. Frances and Jet, the Aunts, are both single, older women who have seemingly rejected the idea of any kind of heteronormativity by living together instead of romantic partners. Those who found Netflix’s Sabrina too patriarchal in its portrayal of the Witches Council (and of witchcraft in general), Practical Magic offers a far more female-oriented view of the magical world. They move in with their Aunts: Frances and Jet ( Stockard Channing and Dianne West), two wickedly funny witches who enjoy a life filled with magic. In the present day, before the opening credits are even finished, Gillian and Sally lose their father to the curse (and their mother shortly after of ‘heartbreak’). Jilted and betrayed by her lover, Maria curses the Owens family bloodline – any man who falls in love with an Owens woman will die.Įnter present day young sisters Gillian ( Nicole Kidman) and Sally ( Sandra Bullock), two descendants of Maria Owens. On escaping her hanging, she is exiled to a small island where she gives birth to a baby girl. Setting the scene in the 1600s, the prologue depicts young witch Maria Owens on the brink of being killed for witchcraft. With Bullock and Kidman leading and its focus on sisterhood – Practical Magic seems poised to make a comeback. With the recent revival of witchcraft and the spiritual realm back onto our screens in the form of Riverdale, Stranger Things, and the re-invented Chilling Adventures of Sabrina – now seems like exactly the right time to look back on Practical Magic and see if it may have been judged too harshly. The film was a box office flop (a $60 million budget yielded just $46 million domestically) and to this day it remains at a meagre 20% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

TINY WITCH MOVIE PLUS

With two leading women at its helm – Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman – plus an exciting story about witches, magic, curses and defeating an abusive boyfriend, what could go wrong? A lot, apparently. Griffin Dunne’s Practical Magic was released in the UK in 1998 and, looking at the appetite for spunky young witches, should have been well received. Revenge is a dish best served by magic, it seemed. Willow from Buffy came to the small screen in 1996 whilst on the silver screen, The Craft shed new light on the plight of the outcasts. The 1990s was a decade rife with witch related pop culture, particularly young and trendy witches.

Tiny witch movie