The Craft is considered by many to be a queer classic, and the creative team behind The Craft: Legacy aimed to build on the foundation set by the 1996 original with more overt themes of sexual fluidity and trans inclusion. Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones (Band Aid), The Craft: Legacy stars four young women as teenage outcasts who develop powers of witchcraft and magic.
The original film was a surprise sleeper hit back in 1996, and it remains a cult classic to this day. Its themes of female empowerment and fractured sisterhood remain inspiring and cautionary, respectively, while the aesthetic presentation from original director Andrew Fleming continues to inspire new generations of filmmakers. In the queer community, The Craft is fondly remembered for its extensive gay applicability. Due to its themes of feminine bonding and the aesthetic sensibilities of 1990s counter culture, The Craft has developed a sizeable fandom among LGBT viewers.
For The Craft: Legacy, Lister-Jones aims to carry forward that tradition by incorporating more overt themes that reflect the film's transgender representation and the increasingly popular notion of gender fluidity. In late 2019, Screen Rant was given the opportunity to visit the set of The Craft: Legacy, and Lister-Jones spoke about her goals when developing a film that would honor the original's standing among gay viewers.
"Without giving spoilers away, we do deal with sexual fluidity in the film, and that was important to me. Young people today, I think, are exploring fluidity in a way I think is exciting and gives me hope for the future. I think part of what I also wanted to represent with the film is the hope I feel in seeing what youth culture is pushing, in the face of so much bullying and oppressive culture that they're witnessing. There are definitely those undertones."
Historically, youth culture has consistently come under fire from older generations. Be it the growth of rock and roll in the 1950s, the free love movement in the 1960s, or open homosexuality, young people have consistently come up against resistance from their more conservative elders. Thus, it's left to art and entertainment to pick up the slack and inform viewers that there's power in being different, that adversity leads to inner strength, and that it's simply okay to be who you are. The Craft: Legacy features a trans witch, played by Zoey Luna, herself a trans woman. In the world of The Craft, only women can use magic, so the film's trans inclusion comes across as an affirmation of the notion that trans women are, indeed, women.
It remains to be seen if The Craft: Legacy can truly live up to the original, which remains a seminal film for entire generations of young people, and young women especially. From our time with Lister-Jones, it's obvious she understands the responsibility of working on this project. While The Craft has a sizeable queer fandom, the film still has strong mainstream appeal and speaks to anyone who feels different, marginalized, or otherwise out of sync with the arbitrary norms of society, and Lister-Jones herself was someone who felt impacted by The Craft:
"It was such a seminal film for me, having come of age in the 90s as a real weirdo. I shaved my head when I was 12, and was bullied as any young girl with a shaved head would be at that age. The Craft spoke to me as I think it spoke to so many people who felt outside of the norm. I'm really excited of continuing the legacy of speaking to those who don't feel heard... "We are the weirdos, mister.""
The Craft: Legacy releases October 28 on VOD.