How ‘Practical Magic’ Ended: The Owens Curse, Explained
Practical Magic (1998) became a fall and spooky season staple for so many of us the moment we watched it, and it's hard to believe we're now days away from the sequel, Practical Magic 2 (2026). Based on Alice Hoffman's novels of the same name, the film not only introduced us to the Owens women, but it dove headfirst into unraveling the kind of curse that always felt like it was deeper than what a single movie could showcase. Could it really have been that easy? Maybe for the '90s and the way we viewed various components of media then, but having the chance to dig a little deeper into the lore in 2026 feels especially exciting.
As deeply complex women, both Sandra Bullock's Sally and Nicole Kidman's Gillian are the kind of characters who deserved a show or limited series—more insight, more screen time, and more of everything, really. But instead, we're getting a sequel, and ultimately, we'll take that, too. With Sally's kids now older, and played by Maisie Williams and Joey King, this time, they're the ones discovering how awful things can be for an Owens woman who chooses to love a man.
But what exactly is the curse, and was it not broken in the first movie? It's a bit more thrilling to rewatch the first movie knowing everything we know about the sequel, and it'll be even more exciting to do so afterward as well.
What Is The Owens Curse In ‘Practical Magic’?
For starters, the curse dates back more than 200 years by the time we're introduced to the characters. As Aunts Frances (Stockard Channing) and Jet (Dianne Wiest) tell the story to Sally and Gillian while they're young, they say that it all began with their ancestor, Maria Owens, the first witch in their family. Though Maria essentially frees herself from public execution, she goes off believing that the man she loved would eventually find her and their unborn child. But when he doesn't show up, she casts a spell on herself to never love again, and it ends up backfiring to become the very curse that plagues every Owens woman, meaning that every man they ever love will die in the end.
They go on to explain that it's likely why their father died, and that their mother heard the death-watch beetle ticking all day while they were at the beach. Their mother later died of a broken heart, and understanding the aches of such grief, young Sally casts a spell to meet a very specific man, believing he doesn't exist. Still, she ends up falling in love anyway, and like all Owens women before her, she hears the beetle tick, and shortly after, her husband dies. He leaves her with their two daughters, Antonia and Kylie, to care for, just like her own mother, and this is when she moves back in with her aunts, also vowing that her kids will never practice magic.
Did Sally not love Gary the same way she loved her late husband? True love here is the key in more ways than one, as a standard formula to most curses, so this could also be the very reason why he's no longer in the sequel. Or, as we'll learn, he could be dead, too.
Is The Owens Curse In ‘Practical Magic’ Too Big To Break?
If there's anything that countless magic-centered movies have taught us in the past is that there's no curse too big for powerful witches and warlocks. There's a point in Practical Magic where Gary essentially tells Sally that curses are only real if you believe in them, but as we've also seen, denial doesn't get the women far either. The curse is very much real, and it's powerful, too. Powerful enough that while these women exorcise demons and banish them, they can't seem to break what's plagued their family for generations.
And now, with Practical Magic 2 bringing in Lee Pace, perhaps the key here has more to do with falling in love with a human versus a man who might have powers of his own. While we don't yet know if this is the case with academic Ian Wright, it could be. There's a lot we don't know outside of the trailers yet, and at the same time, it's clear that Sally's never been more determined to help her kids. The stakes are undoubtedly higher this time around, and with Kylie's life threatened, we can be sure of the fact that all the Owens women will do everything they can to protect one of their own.
There's a reason Maria is brought up in the story, and it's interesting to think about whether the sequel will, in some way, bring her back to figure out if she's also the key to reversing the curse once and for all.
