Favoring sisterhood over chills, reboot/sequel "The Craft: Legacy" stands on its own

The Craft: Legacy (2020)

Part of it may be nostalgia, but Andrew Fleming’s “The Craft” was a trendy, formative high school film to come out of the ‘90s and speak to our inner goth weirdo. Perfect for a sleepover with candles and an Ouija board, this horror cautionary tale was armed with a magnetic cast—Fairuza Balk, a pre-“Scream” Neve Campbell, Robin Tunney and Rachel True—and daring in the teen-oriented themes it touched upon. While it would be difficult to separate one’s fond memories of the 1996 film while watching 2020’s “The Craft: Legacy,” a fresh-eyed telling for a new generation does not automatically mean a pale imitation. Rather, writer-director Zoe Lister-Jones (2017’s “Band Aid”) takes nothing away from the original film with her take on the material. Astutely written with care and respect for its heritage, Lister-Jones’ film favors sisterhood in the current landscape over chills, despite being built in the Blumhouse factory. A reboot that later reveals itself to be more of a continuation (hence the “legacy”), “The Craft: Legacy” still stands on its own. 

Petite, pixie-haired Lily (Cailee Spaeny) and her mother, Helen (Michelle Monaghan), are moving to go live and blend families with her boyfriend and his three sons. The boyfriend, Adam (David Duchovny), is a charismatic men’s rights academic who gives lectures about masculinity. On her first day of school, Lily is humiliated in class when she experiences her period. Helping her out with a fresh pair of gym shorts rather than treating her like Carrie White are three girls, Frankie (Gideon Adlon), Tabby (Lovie Simone), and Lourdes (Zoey Luna), who practice witchcraft and feel like they have found their fourth in Lily. All is confirmed when Lily throws a peer against a locker without touching him and communicating with the girls telepathically, now making up a coven of air, fire, water, and earth to call the corners. First, they use their powers to freeze time, and then they are able to cast a spell on jock bully Timmy (Nicholas Galitzine), turning him into a sensitive and woke gentleman. Once the spell ends up backfiring on the girls, Lily discovers someone else wants to rid her of her innate gift. 

Indie filmmaker and actress Zoe Lister-Jones is clearly a fan of, but never overly beholden to, “The Craft,” until her film must link itself to the past with the thrill of a cameo held boldly to the last second. Made with a different, progressive approach in how the tides have changed, the film departs on its own path by not turning these girls against each other. Even when one of the four uses magic for selfish reasons, all of them blame themselves. Under Lister-Jones’ guidance, these young women lift each other up and use their power to protect and do good rather than abuse it. Also, in lieu of having the girls do off with Timmy, the script does something more interesting when the new-and-politically-correct Timmy plays a game of “Two Truths and a Lie.” Instead of using the girls’ hubris as conflict, there is a threat in the form of toxic masculinity and patriarchal ideals that’s been there all along. A shape-shifter that would be at home in “Charmed” or “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the threat is gone almost as soon as it is officially introduced and confronted in a pretty underwhelming showdown. This is the one spot where the 1996 film is absolutely missed with its unforgettable climax of snakes and insects galore. 

Above all, the director has assembled an appealing coven and doesn’t merely have her young actors correspond with Sarah, Nancy, Rochelle and Bonnie, the outcasts of yore. Cailee Spaeny (2018’s “Bad Times at the El Royale”) has a poise and natural emotional instincts as Lily, and Gideon Adlon (2018’s “Blockers”) brings a lively swagger, not unlike real-life mother Pamela, to Frankie. Lovie Simone (2020’s “Selah and the Spades”) and newcomer Zoey Luna certainly have presence as Tabby and Lourdes, but for those who are not named Lily, the characters never feel as distinctly drawn with interior lives besides practicing their witchy craft. With a film celebrating women, it does slightly feel like a missed opportunity to have Lourdes, who is transgender, only get a few throwaway lines about not being able to have menstrual cramps or give birth. Even so, the four young women are terrific together and make their love and loyalty to one another palpable in no better way than a montage euphorically set to Sharon Van Etten’s “Seventeen.” Michelle Monaghan excels as she always does as Lily’s warm, cool mom Helen, although the film disappointingly loses sight of her in the climax, only to see her again in one of the last scenes as if a giant reveal was nothing. Finally, what inspired casting to have a ‘90s sci-fi TV icon like David Duchovny play Lily’s strict would-be stepfather Adam because Duchovny can persuasively turn on the dad charm as fast as he can turn it off. 

With most of the elements coming together, “The Craft: Legacy” is a solid companion piece to its twenty-four-year-old predecessor. With a stellar ear for music and Hillary Spera’s crisp lensing, Zoe Lister-Jones’ remake-cum-sequel has aural and visual style in its veins, casting her own stamp. There are respectful homages to the original film, like the title card in the clouds, a game of “light as a feather, stiff as a board” in a montage, and a memorable line that is, within context, actually well-placed rather than awkward. And, in a sly nudge that the 1990s are nostalgic but a distant memory, Lily and her mom listen and try singing along to Alanis Morissette’s “Hand in My Pocket” in the car before realizing they can’t remember all of the lyrics. As “The Craft: Legacy” ends with one foot on the side of a franchise-starter, it still has its own story to tell with enough personality and a feminist point-of-view without becoming didactic or pandering. It deserves to be seen for its own witchy power. 

Grade: B -

Columbia Pictures is releasing “The Craft: Legacy” (97 min.) on premium video on demand on October 31, 2020.