In this no-holds-barred rant, I tear apart the 2017 horror movie Wish Upon (starring Joey King) for its endless plot holes, baffling character decisions, and complete disregard for basic logic and realism. From the opening attic suicide scene that any parent would have prevented, to the dumpster-diving dad somehow affording a suburban house while hoarding junk, this review calls out every frustrating moment.
We break down the inconsistent curse rules, ridiculous conveniences (instant ancient Chinese translator cousin, anyone?), legal impossibilities with the inheritance, cartoon physics deaths, and the protagonist's increasingly psychopathic choices. By the end, the time-reset finale makes zero sense and the "the box made her do it" excuse falls completely flat.
This could have been a fresh twist on the monkey's paw/wish gone wrong trope. Instead, it's a dumpster fire of lazy writing, forced drama, and missed opportunities. Is Wish Upon irredeemable crap on a cracker? Absolutely. One of the dumbest horror movies of the 2010s.
What did you think of Wish Upon? Good, bad, or total garbage? Drop your thoughts below — and tell me: if you found the box, what would your first wish be… or would you smash it immediately? If you enjoyed this deep-dive roast, like, subscribe, and hit the bell for more horror movie nitpicks, plot hole exposes, and real-talk reviews!
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"I think you're a selfish bowl of bitch sauce" - Meredith McNeil
Clare Shannon (Joey King) was gifted a music box by her hoarding father (Ryan Phillippe). she later discovers that it's a magical music box that grants seven wishes. as she makes wishes for personal gain, strange and deadly events begin to affect her loved ones. she realises the box harbours a sinister power that demands a deadly price for every wish.
did you enjoy this movie?
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Voting ended onJan 9, 2025
read my review below (may contains spoilers):
watched June 16, 2022 on netflix
I honestly don’t know what to think of Wish Upon. I first decided to watch it because I saw a short clip on YouTube, and it seemed intriguing. the idea of a cursed music box granting wishes felt like a fresh take on the horror genre, so I gave it a shot. I love music boxes. they’ve always been fascinating to me. in fact, I have a big collection at home, though most of them are broken now. in Malaysia, we don’t really have a lot of variety in terms of tunes. most of the ones I own just play Für Elise because Malaysians don’t know much about classical music other than Für Elise and honestly, it’s overused. my mum always found my music boxes creepy, especially when I played late at silent night when everyone’s sleeping. watching this movie with her didn’t help at all, and I ended up feeling more unnerved by her than entertained. back to the movie, the music box is definitely creepy. it doesn’t matter what time it plays; there’s something inherently unsettling about it. the premise of the story is exciting, and I felt genuinely intrigued at the beginning. but as the movie progressed, I found it emotionally draining. it’s not terrifying in a traditional sense. it’s more about the unsettling atmosphere and the emotional toll of the events.
one thing that really struck me was the sheer number of deaths in the movie. I’m no stranger to gruesome visuals. I’ve seen my fair share of true crime documentaries, medical dramas, and slasher movies; but there’s something different about the deaths in Wish Upon. maybe it’s the way they happen or the fact that Clare’s wishes seem to trigger them indirectly, but it leaves a heavier impact. what frustrated me the most was Clare’s character development. her personality changes so much throughout the movie, and it’s clear that the more wishes she makes, the more she loses herself. it’s not easy to watch someone’s moral compass deteriorate, even if it’s fictional. this might be why the movie feels more exhausting than entertaining for me. in the end, Wish Upon isn’t a movie I would enthusiastically recommend. it’s an interesting concept, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. it’s emotionally heavy and frustrating to watch, even though it isn’t particularly scary. If you’re into movies that explore the darker sides of human nature, it might be worth a try. for me, though, it’s not one I’d revisit.
final verdict: I think it was okay/watchable
maturity rating: 13+
genre: horror, fantasy
duration: 1h 30m (90min)
country: Canada, USA
language: English
screenplay: Barbara Marshall
major cast: Joey King, Ryan Phillippe, Ki Hong Lee, Shannon Purser, Sydney Park
Summary: High school student Clare Shannon (Joey King) finds a music box that grants seven wishes... and kills a close friend or family member in return.
Unintentionally hilarious horror effort from the cinematographer of the Insidious films. Weird, considering how flat this film’s cinematography is.
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A pretty obvious take on the famous Monkey's Paw storyline, but with a bit of Asian twist into it. Despite getting a very low rating on Rotten Tomatoes (about 19%), personally I quite enjoyed. Anyone who had knows the Monkey's Paw story would definitely know how it goes or how it may end, but the way the storyline was structured, and the way it kept the suspense and the hope of maybe someone surviving and keeping me on my toes, I'd say it actually did pretty well. In fact, there were some scenes that I totally did not expect the plot to go that way, and that's pretty refreshing.
↳“You wanna know what I think, Clare? I think you're a selfish bowl of bitch sauce." Wish Upon (2017) dir. John R. Leonetti
Plot: A teenage girl discovers a box with magical powers, but those powers comes with a deadly price.
Starring: Joey King, Ki Hong Lee, Sydney Park, Shannon Purser, Sherilyn Fenn, Elisabeth Rohm & Ryan Phillippe
Going in, I already knew this movie was gonna be a hard one for me. lol Joey King's character is just so incredibly unlikeable and selfish so that right off the bat was a challenge. I get her character is still dealing with loss and school's hard for her, but to make the decisions she makes... At the point when it's quite clear that her wishes are killing people and she still does it anyway, I was done with her. Sorry to Joey since I'm actually rather cool with her as an actress but the script was doing her no favors. Now I gotta talk about how insane that cast is because wow, sooo many familiar faces in here! Pretty cool thing in an otherwise unpleasant watch. The kills are kinda insane as well if that's any consolation I guess but honestly, I was mostly annoyed and bored throughout. Not to mention, the very ending (mid-credits scene) had me fuming because it has one of the characters who was smart make a dumb decision. Now given there's plot context missing that makes it so that decision is possible but it's still annoying when you remember his stance the whole movie about Claire's wish-making. Anyway, this was a mess basically. lol
This movie is all about the girl who grant on her seven wishes using the old music box in which that Ancient Chinese Language details have. In every granted on her wishes the music box initiate to open in which is something happens. Unfortunately , the girl and the boy discovered something frightened and you will be regret it if you watched this kind of movie.
Lesson: Whatever happened if you are angry from someone and also the one that you'd been fall in love but he/she ignore you, "Be careful of what you wish for" . It could be probably danger to your love ones and you'd been regret it in the end of the day...
