The Harry Potter cast finally reunites with each other during the film series 20th anniversary, which was released on HBO Max on January 1st, News Years Day. Nostalgia fills the air with many of our familiar faces from our childhood taking the screen like Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson along with some other talented co-stars like Matthew Lewis, Robbie Coltrane, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Finnes and Gary Oldman. I was very excited by the fact that HBO Max was releasing yet another reunion special since they recently released Friends:The Reunion back in May 2021. I was so excited to stream this documentary as soon as it was released and was very intrigued by the concept of how they would reunite. Even though I was very curious on how they would pull the reunion off, I was very nervous if the reunion would be worth the wait since it can be very hard to live up to the high expectations and standards that a global phenomenon like Harry Potter is. But after watching it I was very happy with the result. Watching this was an absolute treat to relive these beloved films in all their glory. 

The reunion starts off with the cast slowly starting to gather around in the old sets of Harry Potter. They met in various locations such as the Gryffindor common room, the great hall and professor Snape’s potions classroom. Most of the reunion consisted of interviews, behind the scenes information and some details about the movies that fans are just now discovering. One of my personal favorite reunion duos was Daniel Radcliffe with Helena Bonham Carter. On screen, they may seem like complete and total enemies but off screen, is a different story. We see their faces light up with excitement at the sight of each other which was really heartwarming and sentimental for me as well as many fans. 

The documentary was divided into four chapters. Each chapter talked about two movies. Viewers get to hear and see some behind the scenes of their favorite moments in the movies. They also receive inside information on what it was like to be a child actor, since the majority of the cast started acting around eleven. In Emma Watson’s case, she began at age nine. Learning about these behind the scenes stories truly brought a lot of laughs and smiles to my face. It was such a delight to see all of them in the same room again and to see them reminiscing about our favorite movies. The cast gives us an in depth look on how this series brought so much joy to their lives at such a young age and to many others.

Each chapter was very bittersweet in more ways than one. The director of the Harry Potter reunion, Alfonso Cuaron, did a great job creating such a creative and warm reunion. He keeps his audience intrigued and engaged by having the cast share funny and affectionate stories. The particular story that I enjoyed from the last chapter was when Helena Boham Carter exposed Daniel Radcliffe’s crush on her when she showed him a photo of a note he had written to Helena on the last day of shooting the last film. The moment was very hilarious when we see Daniel read the note, at first to himself then to the camera, and the look on his face was just priceless. One of the other aspects I loved about the documentary was how we were able to remember the ones who have passed before the reunion. Many names appear on screen like Alan Rickman and Helen McCrory. Viewers get to see the actors share their memories with their co-stars and share sweet moments with one another. Particularly how much Alan Rickman cared for the cast and crew. Daniel Radcliffe told us that Rickman always watched his movies and always showed up to his shows and truly felt like family to not just him but everyone else as well.  

The level of excitement I was faced with was unreal as I continued to watch this movie with all the funny behind the scenes and the sweet moments with the actors.  Not only was this a sentimental moment for the cast but also for the fans as well. I personally have been a huge fan of the Harry Potter franchise for years and many other people have loved watching and reading this series just as long as I have. Harry Potter truly has such a lasting impact on everyone and brought so much light into everyone’s lives. This was such an amazing movie to watch and recommend it to anyone who loves this franchise just as much as I do.