EXCLUSIVE: Susanne Bier on the theatrical experience of Practical Magic 2: “Watching a movie with other people is an entirely different experience”
For Susanne Bier, the ultimate purpose of Practical Magic 2 extends beyond the story, its supernatural elements or its star-studded cast. The director hopes the film brings audiences together for the kind of communal experience that she believes defines cinema.
Bier is particularly passionate about the difference between watching a movie in a theatre and consuming it alone at home. “I mean, that is the essence of cinema, and that is why I believe in cinema and why I believe in this movie: watching a movie with other people is an entirely different experience from watching it on your own.”
For the director, the shared reactions of an audience are an integral part of the cinematic experience. “You sit in a room, you share laughter, you share tears, you share a whole lot of things, and you have an experience with other human beings.”
Bier believes that this collective experience has become even more meaningful at a time when audiences have increasingly easy access to films on personal devices. “And watching a movie at home on your computer or even on your phone is the opposite. You can be engaged, but it doesn’t have the joy of being with other people doing it.”
That desire for togetherness is particularly fitting for a film whose central themes revolve around family, sisterhood and love. Throughout her approach to Practical Magic 2, Bier has emphasised that the magic exists to strengthen the human relationships at the heart of the story.
Her hope is that those themes translate into an emotional and entertaining theatrical experience. “And that’s what I hope for with this movie. I want this movie to have lots of people sharing a fun, joyful, at times sad, but most importantly, really engaging experience.”
That sentiment also encapsulates Bier’s broader approach to the sequel. While Practical Magic 2 has the spectacle and supernatural elements audiences expect, the director has deliberately kept its emotional core grounded in human connections.
For Bier, the magic works best when it serves those relationships—and when it gives audiences a reason to laugh, feel and ultimately experience the film together.
As the sequel brings Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman and the world of the Owens family back to the big screen, Bier’s ambition is therefore not simply to recreate the past, but to create a new shared cinematic memory for both longtime fans and a new generation.
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