The Craft · reception & legacy
1996 · Andrew Fleming
How The Craft has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
Critics in '96 shrugged it off as teen-horror fluff even as it opened at #1 and became a sleeper hit; decades later it's been fully reclaimed as a foundational goth-girl text, with the 2020 sequel only confirming the original's cult standing.
What's debated
Fans still argue about the third act — whether the film ultimately punishes Nancy, its most beloved character, and betrays the very outsiders it spent the whole movie celebrating.
Its footprint
"We are the weirdos, mister" is one of the most quoted lines of '90s cinema, the four-witches-walking shot is a perennial group Halloween costume, and the film kicked off the late-'90s teen-witch wave (Sabrina, Charmed, Buffy all followed) — its aesthetic still fuels WitchTok.
Where it stands
A certified cult classic and seasonal Letterboxd favourite — mandatory viewing in the '90s teen-movie and goth canons, especially every October.