Summary
Nicholas Tomnay’sWhat You Wish Foris a thriller from which one cannot look away, even if the overall moral of the story falls just short of flawless. The story follows Ryan (Nick Stahl), a down-on-his-luck chef who travels to South America to meet up with his former roommate Jack (Brian Groh) and escape threats due to his gambling debts. Jack, whom Ryan hasn’t seen in a decade, has everything Ryan could want. However,things take a dark turn when Jack dies and Ryan assumes Jack’s identity,only to discover an ugly truth about Jack’s successful career.
What You Wish For’s Cast Delivers Tense Group Dynamics
What You Wish Forlaunches us into the beautiful setting of an unspecified South American country, with staging and cinematography that perfectly captures the private residence as well as the city.The first 20 or so minutes is a vivid illustration of professional jealousy, with Ryan dropping some not-so-subtle hints that he is looking for a job and Jack voicing his own woes,which clearly enrages Ryan, even if he maintains a façade of politeness. The two men bring home solo traveler Alice (Penelope Mitchell) for a cooking competition that Ryan wins, but she sleeps with Jack.
The interactions between these three actors are fantastic and painfully relatable to anyone who has experienced similar envy.
The interactions between these three actors are fantastic and painfully relatable to anyone who has experienced similar envy. However,What You Wish For’stension does not ease up once Jack is out of the picture.Ryan comes back to the house to meet two more hospitality professionals who work for Jack’s mysterious employer: Poised hostess Imogen (Tamsin Topolski) and versatile security and muscle Maurice (Juan Carlos Messier). Ryan keeps pretending to be Jack as Imogen explains the dinner for five ultra-wealthy guests they are hosting — with a grotesque twist.
Ryan is by no means a likable protagonist, landing in a morally gray area of self-perseveration and a guilty conscience. Once the real cooking starts, he slips into the role of chef with an uncomfortable but obvious ease.What You Wish Forkeeps us hooked with the disturbing scenario, and Topolski’s performance is sharp as she badgers Ryan to“get [his] s**t together,”the threat of death and dismemberment looming.
What You Wish For Doesn’t Quite Land On Its Final Point
The similarities toMark Mylod’s The Menuare obvious, althoughWhat You Wish Forcan be praised for its premise, which emphasizes both the brutality of the rich and the mental strain and moral degradation of those who rise to work for them.The complete absence of guilt among the dinner guests and Imogen’s justifications are morbidly fascinating. With the slick setting and impeccable professionals (or those trying to appear so) as the backdrop of the twisted story,What You WishForis an engaging psychological horror.
Not everyone will amass massive gambling debts and will want a successful career for themselves, a plot holeWhat You Wish Fordoesn’t exactly address.
However,What You Wish Foris a little condescending, with a title that mocks career ambitions and a plot that comes full circle with Ryan expressing his jealousy of another man’s standard and exhausting job. Continuing mycomparisons toThe Menu, the previous movie ends with a purifying spectacle that suggests there is a way out of the toxic cycle, but not without costs. In contrast,What You Wish Forposits that the cycle of working for an evil, self-righteous entity never stops.
What You Wish Foris now playing in theaters and available on VOD.
Not everyone will amass massive gambling debts and will want a successful career for themselves, a plot holeWhat You Wish Fordoesn’t exactly address.The Menuimplies that “Chef” could have been content managing a homey, modestly successful burger joint.What You Wish Forconcludes that the upper class is horrific and there is no way out for the people who work for them,for a much bleaker ending. However, this finale left me with many more questions, which may have been the point, but doesn’t result in the most satisfying movie.
What You Wish For
Cast
What You Wish For follows Ryan, a struggling chef with severe gambling problems, who flees to an unnamed Latin American country to escape his debts. His friend Jack, a renowned chef, welcomes him into his luxurious home. Ryan envies Jack’s opulent lifestyle but soon finds out the dark secrets behind it. A twist of fate allows Ryan to assume Jack’s identity, uncovering the sinister means by which Jack has sustained his life of luxury.
