Four girls find power in each other, and the movie knows exactly what it wants to say about it.
“The Craft,” directed by Andrew Fleming, follows Sarah, Bonnie, Nancy and Rochelle as they form a coven at a Los Angeles parochial school. They call their earth deity Manon, worship it together, and draw strength from each other’s outsider status. The film was released in 1996, earned a cult following, and now stands as a study in teenage power dynamics dressed up as supernatural horror.
Trailer, via ScreamFactoryTV.
Four Girls, One Coven
Robin Tunney plays Sarah, the newcomer whose unusual abilities draw the group together. Fairuza Balk is Nancy, Bonnie Harper is played by Neve Campbell, and Rachel True rounds out the quartet as Rochelle. Each brings a different kind of pain: Bonnie bears burn scars, Nancy lives in a trailer with her mother and abusive stepfather, and Rochelle endures racist bullying from a group of white girls. The film pairs them with a jock named Chris Hooker, played by Skeet Ulrich, who becomes a target for their revenge after he spreads a false rumor about Sarah.
The group’s bond grows stronger when a vagrant chasing Sarah is struck and killed by a car. The girls believe their combined will caused the accident, and the film leans into that idea as its central engine. The magic works because they work together, and the film treats this as a genuine insight rather than a cheap gimmick.
Spells, Consequences and a Vengeful Ritual
Each girl casts a spell with a personal goal:
- Sarah places a love spell on Chris.
- Rochelle curses her bully Laura Lizzie.
- Bonnie wishes for beauty.
- Nancy asks for power.
The spells succeed. Chris becomes obsessed with Sarah, Bonnie’s scars heal miraculously, Laura’s hair begins to fall out, and Nancy’s stepfather dies of a heart attack, allowing her and her mother to collect his life insurance and move into a luxurious high-rise apartment. The film tracks the consequences carefully, showing how power changes each girl, and how the bond between them holds even as their individual desires clash.
The film’s most famous scene, featuring Balk and Tunney, won the MTV Movie Award for Best Fight. It is a moment of pure energy, and it remains the clearest example of why the film still draws audiences decades later.
What the Film Gets Right
The casting is sharp. Tunney carries Sarah’s quiet desperation, Balk delivers Nancy’s cruelty with charisma, Campbell plays Bonnie’s wounded loyalty, and True grounds Rochelle in fear. The film understands that the four girls are not interchangeable, and it spends time establishing each one’s history before bringing them together.
The writing leans heavily on the idea that the girls are outsiders who find strength in each other, and that power comes with a cost. That tension is the film’s core, and it is handled with more conviction than most horror films manage.
Where It Falls Short
The film’s flaws are structural. The pacing sags in the middle, and some of the supporting characters feel like sketches rather than fully realized people. The villainy of the white girls who bully Rochelle feels thin compared to the depth given to the main four. And while the love triangle involving Sarah, Chris and the girls is meant to add tension, it sometimes feels like a distraction from the central dynamic.
The film’s ending leaves questions unanswered rather than resolved, and that ambiguity has been part of its appeal. Some viewers find it frustrating, others find it fitting. Either way, it is a deliberate choice rather than a stumble.
Numbers Behind the Film
- Release: May 3, 1996, by Sony Pictures Releasing
- Runtime: 101 minutes
- Budget: $15 million
- Opening weekend: $6.7 million
- Worldwide: $55.6 million
- Saturn Awards: Nominated for Best Horror Film and Best Supporting Actress (Balk)
- MTV Movie Award: Won for Best Fight (Balk and Tunney)
“The Craft” is a flawed but compelling film about teenage power, friendship and the price of magic. It earns its reputation as a cult classic through its strong cast and its bold handling of its central idea. It does not reach the heights of the best horror films of its era, but it does something few films attempt: it makes the bond between four outcast girls feel genuinely dangerous and thrilling.
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