"By candlelight in the cemetery, four girls summon the courage to speak to the dead. Samantha's hand tightens around Teeny's as they sit cross-legged around Dear Johnny's grave, attempting to summon answers about his death. For most millennial girls, this is familiar territory: the sleepover Ouija board, the dare to summon Bloody Mary, the friend obsessed with crystals or astrology."
"It didn't feel like make-believe; it felt like permission. Soon after, I was recreating it myself. These rituals weren't about ghosts; they were experiments in courage, small acts of control in a chaotic world. I remember sitting in my bedroom, candles flickering on the windowsill, moving the planchette with a mix of terror and delight, convinced I might really make contact with the beyond."
"Where The Craft shouts defiance ("We ARE the weirdos, Mister"), Now & Then quietly shows girls using the supernatural to process grief, confront change, and claim agency. The girls face loss, identity shifts, and the realization that adults cannot always protect or explain, and sometimes even lie. Each girl approaches the unknown differently. Teeny practices kissing in the mirror, testing the contours of her emerging sexual identity. Chrissy pushes gently against her mother's rules, curious about what lies beyond them."
Now & Then captures the spooky, witchy side of girlhood as a resource for coping rather than rebellion. Four girls gather in rituals—Ouija, candlelight seances, mirror-kissing—to test courage, assert small acts of control, and seek connection amid uncertainty. These practices function as experiments in grief processing, identity exploration, and agency when adults fail to protect or explain. The film contrasts with louder teen occult stories by showing quiet interior strategies for confronting loss and change. Each girl navigates the unknown differently, exploring emerging sexuality, pushing against parental rules, and dramatizing mortality as a form of self-definition.
Read at Scary Mommy
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