Was Maria's Curse Real? Practical Magic's Owens Women Curse Explained (2024)

Practical Magic begins by telling the story of Maria Owens and a curse that followed the Owens women for centuries, but it raises many questions about how real it was and what happened to it at the end of the movie. The 1990s saw many movies about witches, some more successful than others, and among them is Practical Magic, released in 1998. Directed by Griffin Dunne and based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman, Practical Magic introduced viewers to sisters (and witches) Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman).

The Owens women carried a curse that doomed any man that they loved, and after the death of Sally’s husband, she stopped practicing magic. When Gillian needed help to get rid of her abusive boyfriend, Jimmy, Sally went to her rescue, but Jimmy’s return as an evil, vengeful spirit, after killing him in self-defense, forced the sisters to use their magic abilities together. At the end of Practical Magic, Sally fell in love again, raising questions about the curse, if it was real, and whether it was broken or not by the end.

Why Maria Cast A Spell On Herself In Practical Magic (& How It Turned Into A Curse)

Maria Owens Had A Difficult Life

At the beginning of Practical Magic, it takes the audience many, many centuries back to meet Maria Owens (Caprice Benedetti), Sally and Gillian’s ancestor who was hanged for witchcraft but survived. Maria was exiled, and on top of that, she was pregnant, but the father of her child never returned to her. Completely heartbroken, Maria cast a spell on herself so she wouldn’t fall in love again, but that spell developed into a curse that her descendants carried for centuries. This curse claimed the life of Sally and Gillian’s father, and their mother died of a broken heart.

Aunt Frances casually mentioned that a man she once loved also died due to the curse, and Sally and Gillian had two completely different reactions to it and seeing their aunts cast a love spell for a woman: Gillian couldn’t wait to fall in love, while Sally didn’t want to, ever. Young Sally cast a spell on herself to ensure she would never fall in love by coming up with the idea of a man with impossible traits that she would fall in love with.

However, her aunts cast a love spell on her years later so she could marry and be happy, but the curse caught up with her and her husband and father of her daughters died after being hit by a truck. What started as a spell to protect herself and her broken heart ended up cursing Maria’s descendants, and it was Maria's pain and isolation that turned her spell into a generational curse.

Did Sally Break The Owens Women Curse At The End Of Practical Magic?

The Status Of The Curse Has Caused Confusion

Despite casting the spell on herself so she could only fall in love with a man with impossible traits, the man with these actually existed and arrived unexpectedly. The man in question was Gary Hallett, a state investigator from Arizona who was looking for Jimmy, as he was a serial killer. After realizing he was the “impossible man”, Sally told him their feelings for each other were not real and were, instead, due to the spell, but Gary told her that curses only work if one believes in them.

Shortly after, Jimmy’s spirit possessed Gillian, prompting Sally, Frances, and Jet to quickly form a coven. With the help of the townswomen, of whom many had never been nice to the Owens women due to their reputation as witches, Sally, Frances, and Jet exorcised Jimmy’s spirit and saved Gillian, while also healing the relationship between the Owens and the townswomen. The coven, the Owens finally being welcomed into the community by the townsfolk, and their accepting them as witches also ended up breaking Maria’s curse.

However, it’s important to remember what Gary said to Sally: curses only work if one believes in them. While the Owens finally being part of the community could have definitely broken the curse as Maria was almost hanged and subsequently exiled, it’s also possible that Sally stopped believing in the curse, thus breaking it and allowing herself to fall in love with Gary and be a family.

Could The Owens Women Curse Return In Practical Magic 2?

Will Practical Magic 2 See An Old Or New Curse?

Practical Magic is finally getting a sequel, with Kidman and Bullock reprising their roles as Gillian and Sally, but plot details are currently unknown. It’s possible that Practical Magic 2 will adapt the sequel book, The Book of Magic, which sees a different curse as Aunt Jet hears the deathwatch beetle, but it could also see the return of Maria’s curse.

As it’s not entirely clear at the end of Practical Magic if the curse was broken or not, it could be brought back as Sally’s daughters are now adults, and so the Owens women could join forces once more to end the curse once and for all. Of course, it’s also possible that Practical Magic 2 will not have a curse at all, thus avoiding being too similar to the first movie, but it will surely give a definitive answer about the status of Maria’s curse after all these years.

Practical Magic

PG-13

Practical Magic is a romantic fantasy film directed by Griffin Dunne, featuring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, born into a family of witches. Living under a curse that dooms any man they fall in love with to an untimely death, the sisters navigate love, loss, and their magical heritage while confronting family secrets and societal prejudices.

Director

Griffin Dunne

Release Date

October 16, 1998

Cast

Nicole Kidman , Sandra Bullock , Stockard Channing , Dianne Wiest , Goran Visnjic , Aidan Quinn , Evan Rachel Wood , Mark Feuerstein

Runtime

104 Minutes