Directed by Andrew Fleming

How to describe The Craft… It’s campy, angsty, and made of that dark, atmospheric 90s stuff you don’t see much anymore. Catholic school meets occult. At its best, it’s a movie about the power of high school belonging. At its worst, it’s a PSA about why you should never start a witch coven with mean girls.

THE EXPOSITION

Sarah Bailey (Robin Tunney) moves to Los Angeles with her father and stepmother (her mother died giving birth to her) and starts over with a new house, a new school, and a new chance to be someone different. She’s quickly adopted by a trio of outcasts: Bonnie (Neve Campbell), Rochelle (Rachel True), and Nancy (Fairuza Balk).

Each girl is damaged in her own way. Bonnie hides scars that cover most of her body, Rochelle endures relentless racist bullying from the school’s it girl (Christine Taylor), and Nancy is scraping by in a toxic trailer-park home with her mother and abusive stepfather. Together, they discover that Sarah — having shown signs of unexplained witchy ability — is the missing “fourth” in their coven, the element that completes their power circle. They draw her in and begin a series of sacred spell-casting meetings.

THE ELEMENTS

Sarah represents Earth. She is the only one who doesn’t have to fight for her magic — she’s grounded. She was gifted her powers from her mother (always a mirror of Earth, Mother Earth). She spends much of the film’s second half trying to rebalance their world.

Bonnie is air. She floats by, seeing all (she’s the first to notice Sarah’s powers), but when her scars heal and she gains her confidence she becomes an undeniable gust of wind. Air can lift you up or knock you down, and Bonnie does both.

Rochelle is water, steady and calm. Flowing. Much like Bonnie, when Rochelle allows her anger to win she becomes a rushing torrent, a flood of rage. Water is always around her, especially in one of the movie’s most chilling scenes — her bully sobbing on the shower floor holding what’s left of her hair.

And finally, Nancy is fire. She burns through every scene. When she’s at her most broken and vulnerable, we see rain dripping through her ceiling, dousing her flame. Balk is in fine form in this film (not to mention that her make up and costuming are completely on point). She’s scary! She’s an excellent horror protagonist (despite this not being in any way a traditional horror) because she’s lost in herself and her emotions — she doesn’t think of herself as a villain, she just sees her life improving and feels desperate to maintain that control, no matter the consequences. Her sense of uncontainable fierceness, confidence, and fire is the major driver for the film.

THE THEME

Dark and atmospheric in a true 90s way, the movie takes its turn when the girls realize nothing comes for free: balance must be restored. Power corrupts them, Nancy loses control, and things generally start to unravel. After one particularly disastrous night, Sarah tries to walk away, but Nancy and the others turn on her. They invade her dreams, send illusions of snakes and bugs crawling over every surface, and attempt to drive her to suicide.

This is a witchy movie, but at its core it’s also about female friendship and envy, trauma and empowerment — the way girls can build each other up until they suddenly don’t. They destroy themselves with their own power. It’s very high school.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Visually, The Craft is deliciously gothic — rainstorms, candles, Latin incantations, and an occult shop with a witchy owner (Assumpta Serna). I wouldn’t say it’s objectively “good” or “bad”, it’s more that it can be the right movie for the right time. It’s a very theatrical Halloween season rewatch, good for a dark October night when you feel inspired to test out a spell or two of your own.

Just remember: “The only good or bad is in the heart of the witch. Nature keeps a balance of its own.”

this movie is good (when the mood strikes).

My rating: 2.5/5

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