Hocus Pocus 2 movie review & film summary (2022)

Nearly 30 years later, “Hocus Pocus 2” should make fans of all generations happy, paying tribute to the original and adding some gentle updating and some welcome diversity, subtracting some violence. It's also a little sweeter. The adult cast from the first movie includes always-terrific Doug Jones, the brilliant actor behind the creature in “The Shape of Water” and Abe in “Hellboy,” as the hapless zombie Billy Butcherson. Welcome new additions include comic powerhouses Tony Hale and Sam Richardson and all-around powerhouse “Ted Lasso’s” Hannah Waddingham. 

The first movie was about relationships between siblings (with a little teen romance); the second is about friendship. We also get a little bit of an origin story. After an aerial opening shot that evokes the original "Hocus Pocus," the Sanderson sisters are shown as young girls. As Winnie runs furiously through town, the Pilgrim community rushes out of the way. Taylor Henderson plays young Winnie, complete with wild red hair & buck teeth. Her witty rendition of Midler’s alpha witch is sharp and funny. Reverend Traske (Tony Hale), the local clergyman, has decided that Winnie must marry a young villager and that the younger girls will be placed with another family. Winnie refuses and the girls run to the forbidden forest where they meet Winnie (Waddingham), a very glamorous witch who gives them one key prop from the first movie, the book with spells with a human eyes on the cover. It opens and sees.

In present day, high school students Becca (Whitney Peak) and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) are getting ready for their Halloween tradition, Becca’s birthday sleepover. This year it will have to be without their other friend Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), who has not been a part of the group lately because she’s been spending all her time with her boyfriend. Becca and Izzy enjoy magic experiments and spending a lot time at Gilbert (Richardson)'s local magic shop. He gives them the black candle, another key prop from the original movie. They light it, just like the Sanderson sisters legend. (The virginity requirement to activate the candle’s power to bring back the witches is joked about but not explained.)