Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Nary a cult classic is safe from either the reboot, remake, or sequel treatment these days, and The Craft is no exception. The 1996 high school horror flick about four troubled teens-turned-witches has been revived with The Craft: Legacy, now streaming on VOD. Can this new spin on a freaky old favorite bewitch us like its predecessor? Or is all the magic gone?
THE CRAFT: LEGACY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: Lily (Cailee Spaeny) and her mother Eunice (Michelle Monaghan) are preparing for a new chapter; they’ve left their old town behind and they’re moving in with Eunice’s long-distance boyfriend Adam (David Duchovny), a motivational speaker for men, and his three sons. Lily is apprehensive about all this newness, because she’s not quite used to having friends. Her worst fears are soon confirmed when things don’t get off to the best start; she bleeds through her jeans on her first day of school, prompting a bully named Timmy (Nicholas Galitzine) to embarrass her in front of the class. After she excuses herself to the bathroom in tears, a trio of girls who have been searching for the fourth witch for their coven – Frankie (Gideon Adlon), Tabby (Lovie Simone) and Lourdes (Zoey Luna) – follow her and offer her shorts in an attempt to comfort her. The quad are predictably fast friends, and their afternoons are soon spent practicing spells and the like. Levitation! Freezing things! Making finger fire! Getting justice against the bullies and the bigots! All good stuff.
The good stuff can only last for a while, though, and soon, they group gets in a little over their heads. here’s something fishy going on with Mom’s intense boyfriend and his sons, a spell or two go a little wonky, and what seemed harmless at first is now literally life-or-death. Lily finds herself more isolated than ever, making her the perfect target for a sneaky villain who intends to take her power and destroy everything she and the coven have worked towards. Much like in the original The Craft, the group must once more come together to support one another or pay the ultimate price.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Well, obviously, if you’re a fan of The Craft, you’ll probably be on board with the sequel (as well as other witchy ’90s flicks like Practical Magic), but it’s also in line with other teen supernatural and horror flicks like Happy Death Day, Jennifer’s Body, and even Buffy.
Performance Worth Watching: As school asshole-turned-woke dude Timmy, Nicholas Galitzine totally subverts expectations. I knew there was some change coming, but he takes what easily could have been an overplayed jock/bully role and manages to infuse it with sensitivity and authenticity. He’s totally revolting at the beginning, and then completely heartbreaking – his tears feel real, but so do his nasty jabs. He’s definitely one to keep an eye on.
Memorable Dialogue: Maybe it’s cheesy, but “your difference is your power” – Lily and her mother’s mantra – is the kind of thing that sticks with you. Simple but sweet when exchanged between the two of them, and important later.
Sex and Skin: A little bit of masturbation and passionate teen make-outs, but not much to write home about here.
Our Take: Oh, what could have been. There is so much that’s good about The Craft: Legacy; the performers (the central coven is full of promising young stars), the setting, the vibes overall. The setup and the first few scenes are totally promising; it calls back to its source material just enough to make you feel a little warm and fuzzy and excited about what kind of twist they might put on things. Unfortunately, however, this anticipation is short-lived. It takes no time at all for the group to get together, and there is an utter lack of dramatic conflict. Because we don’t get to spend enough time with the characters prior and see them grow together, the montage that sees them play with their new powers feels unearned and anticlimactic.
It’s incredibly well-intentioned, but at a certain point, this cozy series of scenes of them being woke police at school and doing each other’s makeup feels a little silly. They don’t feel like real friends with real lives and real problems – which is in itself is a big problem. They may be magical, sure, but magic can’t solve run-of-the-mill interpersonal issues between teenage girls… and these girls never quite act like teenage girls with one another. Give us a little juicy fight! Some personal drama! A clashing of personalities as they all adjust to one another! Something! It might be more comfortable to keep your characters in such a sweet place, but it doesn’t make for compelling storytelling.
With a concept like this – and such beloved source material – there is so much potential, and it’s strange that it’s squandered in such lackluster places. We should be feeling the gut punches of certain losses and reveals and the highs of new discoveries and developments, but there’s something about it all that feels rushed and surface-level that never quite allows us to get there. Even the reveal of the villain is a snooze fest, because we never get the chance to see him do more than one super creepy act. The stakes don’t feel nearly as high as they should because they’re never given the chance to climb whatsoever. There are some parts that could have been genuinely scary! A few moments that might have elicited tears! The climactic battle could have really rocked our worlds! But it all feels over in a blink, and by the time the credits roll, you might wonder why we took this journey and fought this bad guy to begin with.
These bigger picture issues aside, however, there is a lot to love about the central foursome, a group of young witches now much more intersectional than in its predecessor (two of the witches are a trans Latina woman and a Black woman). The fashion is delightful, and the sets – particularly that vine-covered house – are dark and dreamy. I really wanted to love this movie, and I think I might have had the script spent a little more time building out a real story and relationships. Instead, we’re left with something that’s watchable but pretty average and unemotional, which should not be the reaction to a movie about teen girls with magic powers.
Our Call: STREAM IT… but know it could have been so much better. It’s totally watchable, but the script is mediocre, the “wokeness” feels contrived, and there isn’t enough dramatic conflict to turn the The Craft: Legacy into anything more than a pleasant series of scenes with some unearned bigger moments. Despite this, however, the movie is enjoyable. And we could use some enjoyable things these days.
Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.
