Almost three decades after a first film that was among the most discreet cult movies, Practical Magic 2 is hitting the theaters, and already invites Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman to play the Owens sisters again, this time mixing familiar magic to new family peril. About Susanne Bier and Alice Hoffman’s The Book of Magic (the latter adapted by David Zabel), the second episode was opened to the public in the United States this week when simultaneously premiering in London, welcoming the oldest enthusiasts and the newest among the general public to the moonlit familial world of curses, sweetheart bonds and implements of functions and emotion. As Sally Owens, Bullock has taken on a more practical personality at this point, and Kidman is again delicate and carefree as Gillian.

Their repartee continues to be the focus, only now two decades have passed, and life has changed for each of them, with Sally now a mother of two children, and Gillian having had her own runs with the curse. Wiest and Channing are back as the wonderfully eccentric sisters Jet and Frances, who still parry barbs with one another and keep the family house well-protected from the rest of the world.

Joey King and Maisie Williams are introduced as Sally’s children, about to inherit the curse themselves. Lee Pace and others are added as more family members. During the narrative, the plot extends several years beyond the 1998 film. Life for the Owens women continues to be troubled by an ancient curse that has already killed many of the men they loved and continues to haunt others. But when one of the women in the younger generation dares to challenge and perhaps even lift that curse, those involved find their lives taking a turn toward something not just more tragic but more sinister.

Bier manages the tone of the film expertly, alternating the humor of naked witches preparing midnight margaritas and herb-strewn coven kitchens with the more serious themes of love lost, tradition obeyed, ancestors honored and power inherited. What gives the sequel its unique feeling is the feeling of a story being told across time. Bullock and Kidman, also executive producers on the film, have aged naturally into the emotional lived-in weariness that takes years to achieve. Their interactions seem to flow as lightly and naturally as any time we have spent together as siblings who have been through the mud. The design staff faithfully re-create the misty New England setting, filling the mise-en-scne with gentle light, water-touched textures, and a gentle awareness that any magic we are to find will not be very far away from the mundane world.

Though the film clocks in at about two hours and ten minutes, it sinks its teeth in lightly on the relationships and still spares time for the magic. Initial responses from the opening weekend audience point to it resonating with the generation that grew up watching the original and with a new constituency encountering the story for the first time. The mix of romance, humor, and paranormal suspense offers entertainment that is accessible while remaining emotionally resonant enough to sustain the first film’s legacy. Warner Bros. has made it a cinematic event, teasing audiences to leave home in groups for an experience that heeds streaming’s inescapable influence.