The Craft: Legacy (2020)

An unlikely group of aspiring witches get more than they expect after testing out their newfound powers. 

Related Titles: The Craft, The Witches of Eastwick, Black Christmas 

Rating: 10/10 

By Leanne

I always knew that I would love this film. There is very little I love more than a film about magic and witchcraft that is female led.  Don't get me wrong, this film is not especially ground-breaking but it's heart is in the right place and I like the political and social message that comes with it. I watched the 1996 original before going to see this and, despite loving it, I am a big fan of the new sisterhood and friendship message that is in this film. I love the first film but hate that it ends in their friendship being torn apart. I definitely enjoyed the villain was a man, rather than one of the quartet themselves, but it did cause the film to be a little awkward when the villain wasn't fully developed. It would have perhaps worked better if they had followed through with the problem with one of the girls finding trouble with one being too powerful. Rather than trying to include this problem and the villainous characters as well.

The soundtrack was great. 'Hand in my Pocket' by Alanis Morissette as an opening song is a strong start. But the tracks just keep coming with 'Seventeen' by Sharon Van Etten playing over a montage of the quartet performing magic is just *chefs kiss*. (Also, side note, I first discovered this track on the 'Trinkets' soundtrack and if you haven't seen that series, go check it out!) I also loved the shout out to Princess Nokia and her party tune 'Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T).' The score by Heather Christian also deserves a mention as it is used multiple times to tie scenes together and is done very well. With a special note for the final scene in the forest. The music and chanting of their four elements literally gave me shivers.

In addition, I think it is key to mention the costume design. Avery Plewes did a great job in keeping some reference to characters and design from the first film but also modernising and bringing the film into the 21st century. I adored the way each character has a representation of their element in each of their outfits. Plewes carefully used colour palettes to blend their character with their element and it was an excellent touch. Adding in those final details to tie the characters together.

I love the shout outs to the original with the classic line 'We are the weirdos mister' and the same spells from the first film making an appearance. There were some interesting commentaries on the history of witches and I liked that the villain was burnt at the end, flipping witch burning on it's head. It definitely has its similarities to the 1996 version with the girls carrying out spells and casts on those that annoy them; I like a lot that they use the spells against those around that are problematic and use the magic to almost enlighten them to their way of thinking. 

I stand by my ten rating of this film on a level that I thoroughly enjoyed it. As I've said, it wasn't groundbreakingly fresh or original but has a great cast, excellent representation and a great score. 

Rating: 8/10

By Rebecca

The Craft: Legacy was a film I was pleasantly surprised by. I was expecting a teenager horror film, which can often be a bit ropey. However it was more of a kind of female teenage superpower kind of thing which I definitely prefer. The best part of this film for me personally was how 'woke' it is. They weren't afraid to use topics usually avoided as part of the story and script.

Lily is the main character and she moves to into a new town with her therapist mother Helen. They move into Helen's new boyfriends house (Adam) who has three sons. Moving into this new environment is tough enough for Lily and then at school the whole class laughs at her as she has leaked through on her period. Three friends Frankie, Tabby and Lourdes are quick to befriend Lily as they see her as a target to make up the fourth member of their 'magic' group. The girls are quick to become great friends and help each other to practice their magic together. Timmy is the high school bully and the girls play some silly tricks on him to make him learn his lesson and then cast a spell on him for him to be a nice person. The equilibrium is broken when something happens to Timmy and the girls quickly have to step away from magic as it could really be dangerous if used in the wrong way. 

The ending becomes a bit more dark and horror-like. This is where David Duchovny comes into his own. I used to watch David Duchovny growing up in The X Files, so it was nice to see him in something modern but also keeping that mystical nature that he is so familiar with. 

Overall this film did have many flaws, but I think that we both loved it so much because of the dominate female representation and especially young females. There was also brilliant representation and it gives me so much hope that a lot more movies will make this the norm.