Movies

20 Movies to Watch When You Want More Magic After Harry Potter

20 Movies to Watch When You Want More Magic After Harry Potter
Image credit: Legion-Media, globallookpress.com, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Toho, TriStar Pictures

If you're craving a little more enchantment in your movie nights, these titles are your go-to.

They're about capturing that Harry Potter wonder, minus the Hogwarts Express.

1. Fantastic Beasts Franchise (2016-2022)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 74%

Magizoologist Newt Scamander, known for his knowledge of magical creatures, navigates the growing tensions in the magical world while confronting the dark wizard Grindelwald and his divisive agenda.

2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 75%

Four British siblings, evacuated to the countryside during WWII, discover the magical land of Narnia through a wardrobe, joining forces with the lion Aslan to defeat the White Witch's eternal winter.

3. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 40%

Dave, a physics student in New York City, becomes the reluctant apprentice to Balthazar Blake, a sorcerer, and is thrust into a battle against dark forces to prevent the rise of the evil sorceress Morgana.

4. Percy Jackson Franchise (2010-2013)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 49%

Percy Jackson, a teenager discovering he's a demigod and the son of Poseidon, embarks on perilous adventures with his friends at Camp Half-Blood to prevent a war among Greek gods and to stop the Titans' return.

5. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 64%

Jacob Portman, a teenager, discovers a mysterious orphanage led by Miss Peregrine, housing children with extraordinary abilities, and must protect them from sinister forces targeting their kind.

6. Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%

Jesse, an artistic and introverted middle-school boy, and Leslie, his imaginative new friend, create the fantasy world of Terabithia in the woods, where they reign as king and queen to escape their personal struggles.

7. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 91%

Frodo Baggins, a young hobbit, inherits a powerful ring and joins a group of companions to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom, battling the dark lord Sauron's forces to save Middle-earth.

8. The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 64%

Bilbo Baggins, a reluctant hobbit, joins Gandalf the wizard and a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim their homeland from the dragon Smaug, encountering various creatures and challenges along the way.

9. Doctor Strange ( 2016)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%

Dr. Stephen Strange, a talented but arrogant neurosurgeon, turns to mystical arts after a career-ending accident, becoming a powerful sorcerer and guardian against interdimensional threats.

10. Seventh Son (2014)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 12%

Tom Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son, becomes the apprentice of John Gregory, a Spook tasked with protecting the country from supernatural threats, including the vengeful witch Mother Malkin.

11. The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 65%

A young orphan, Lewis Barnavelt, goes to live with his uncle Jonathan, a warlock, in a house with a mysterious ticking heart and discovers a world of magic and danger.

12. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 39%

Molly Mahoney, a shy and insecure young woman, inherits a magical toy store from its eccentric owner, Mr. Magorium, and must believe in herself to keep its magic alive.

13. Abigail ( 2019)

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Rotten Tomatoes Audience score: 36%

Abigail, a young girl living in a city closed off due to a mysterious epidemic, discovers her hidden magical abilities and embarks on a quest to find her father and uncover the truth behind the city's secrets.

14. Matilda (1996)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%

Matilda Wormwood, a highly intelligent and neglected young girl with telekinetic abilities, uses her powers to overcome her abusive parents and tyrannical school principal, Miss Trunchbull.

15. Now You See Me (2013)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 51%

An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track the Four Horsemen, a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists and redistribute the money during their performances, uncovering a larger conspiracy.

16. Stardust (2007)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 77%

Tristan Thorn, a young man from a rural English village, ventures into a magical realm to retrieve a fallen star for his beloved, only to find the star is a woman and becomes entangled in a larger conflict involving witches and princes.

17. The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 81%

The Grace family, moving into the run-down Spiderwick Estate, discovers a field guide to magical creatures and must fend off an ogre's attempts to use the guide for evil purposes.

18. Coraline (2009)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 90%

Coraline Jones, a curious and adventurous girl, finds an alternate world that mirrors her own but hides dark and sinister secrets, and she must use her wits to return to her reality.

19. Alice in Wonderland (2010)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 51%

Alice, a 19-year-old with a vivid imagination, falls into a rabbit hole and returns to the fantastical world she visited as a child, embarking on a quest to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.

20. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

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Rotten Tomatoes score: 87%

Sophie, a young woman cursed with an old body by a witch, seeks refuge in the magical moving castle of the mysterious wizard Howl and becomes involved in a war between kingdoms.