The Craft: Legacy (2020)

“You girls have been playing with fire….”

Director Zoe Lister-Jones guides a whole new group of weirdos in 2020’s sequel/soft reboot of the classic 1996 flick The Craft with The Craft: Legacy. The film’s surprisingly strong cast gives the old college try, but they can’t lift this film above its weak plot. Despite the thin story, however, I enjoyed this movie overall. It gives viewers who love the original film a few winks and nods but adds a new angle to the story that opens the door for big showdowns in later films.

The film feels both like its own story and a loosely connected continuation of the original. What really stands out to me is the fact that the “weirdos” in this film seem much cooler than the weirdos from the first one. These young ladies are much more confident and come across as much stronger individuals than the original coven. They also come off as a lot more powerful than the original coven.

The main witch in the film is Lily “Lilith” Schechner. She is portrayed by Cailee Spaeny. Lily and her mother, Helen (Michelle Monaghan), are moving in with Helen’s new boyfriend, Adam (David Duchovny), and his three sons, Jacob, Isaiah, and Abe (Charles Vandervaart, Donald MacLean, Jr., and Julian Gray). Lily’s story parallels the story of Sarah (Robin Tunney) from the original film. Spaeny reminded me a lot of Tunney, and this might have been purposeful, as we get a surprise cameo at the end of the film. It’s not Tunney, by the way, but I won’t spoil it for you. When Lily arrives at her new school, she quickly becomes an outcast when she has her period in class and bleeds through her pants. Ostracized by her classmates and bullied by Timmy (Nicholas Galitzine), Lily quickly bonds with three other (much cooler than they should be) outsiders named Frankie (Gideon Adlon), Tabby (Lovie Simone), and Lourdes (Zoey Luna). Those three girls also happen to be witches and Lily is the fourth sister that they’ve been needing to reach their full potential.

The newly formed coven decides to have a little fun with Timmy and cast a spell upon him that turns him into an open-minded, deeply understanding individual. This “woke” version of Timmy, as the girls refer to him as, develops an attraction to Lily and she returns his affections. When a tragedy occurs, Lily and her sisters split with one another as they believe that Lily is the cause of the horrible event. This allows the true villain to make their move. Will the sisters reunite to save the day? Watch The Craft: Legacy to find out what happens!

The film really isn’t that bad. It’s just nothing special. The cast, especially Spaeny and Galitzine, doing an amazing job with the flimsy plot. I do like how it opens up the potential of sequels having two covens square off against one another but I highly doubt that a sequel will ever be made. David Duchovny is wasted in this film. The trio of witches that Spaeny joins forces with also give solid performances.

If you’re looking for a bit of nostalgia, the film does give that in small doses to fans of the original film. Overall, though, this is pretty much a standalone flick with a weak plot and strong performances. Give it a look if you’re a fan of witchcraft films.

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