This glaring plot hole in Hocus Pocus will drive you crazy

Hocus Pocus is a beloved Halloween classic. It gifts us with a fantastic dance sequence, a talking black cat, and shots of Sarah Jessica Parker running amok, amok, amok. However, like most movies, it’s not immune to plot holes. And Bustle writer Kelly Schremph noticed a startling detail involving Thackery Binx’s backstory that will seriously change how you watch the movie forever.

You’ve been warned.

As Schremph pointed out, Binx is a talking cat; he talks to Allison, Max, and Dani throughout much of the movie, even befriending the children on their quest. So all of this begs the question…why didn’t he tell his family who he was when he was first turned into a cat?

A quick refresher: The Sanderson sisters turn Binx into a cat after he tries to save his sister Emily from harm. His father later asks the witches to tell him what they did to his son.

"Cat's got my tongue," Winnie responds knowingly.

Binx then brushes up against his father’s leg to try to get his attention, to no avail. So why didn’t he just tell his father it was him. Sure, the pair would have had a different relationship, but odds are his dad would have taken him home, bought him a nice cat tree, and fed him breakfast each morning.

Perhaps it took Binx time to develop his ability to connect with other humans, or perhaps part of the curse was that he couldn’t tell his family who he was? Maybe he could only talk to children, because their minds are more open to magic. Or maybe he was afraid he’d be burned at the stake as a witch himself, since it was, like, olden times?

This is officially going to keep us up at night. At least until we rewatch Home Alone in December and have to deal with that pizza plot hole.