The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Fund us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • Tumblr

  • RSS


CultureCinemaMovie reviews

Wish Upon

Wish Upon | Movie review
24 July 2017
The editorial unit
Avatar
The editorial unit
24 July 2017

Movie and show review

The editorial unit

Wish Upon

★★★★★

Release date

28th July 2017

Links

TwitterWebsite

Based loosely on William Wymark Jacobs’s supernatural short story The Monkey’s Paw – in which individuals grant themselves three wishes, but with deathly repercussions – John Leonetti’s (Annabelle) Wish Upon tells the story of Clare and her harrowing and psychologically traumatising wishful thinking at the hands of a mysterious ornate music box. Clare finds out – with the help of friends – that the box will grant her seven wishes. But her own are egotistical and soon have their deadly consequences, and here the narrative lends itself to the universal motif: be careful what you wish for.

The plot holds a clear moral code, yet the moral life lesson becomes somewhat of a cliché – the clear conventions of the horror genre being overtly in place and adding to the parody of the film. Although this is now a well-known postmodernist gesture, Wish Upon becomes a farcical experience for the viewer, simply another horror flick attempting the self-reflexive quality of postmodern discourse. The picture does this well – and in doing so is quite funny at times – but its generic elements are too overpowering.

For a summer horror movie, Leonetti’s feature does well with its cheap but effective methods of making the audience jump. The horror is darkly comic in some ways, which gives the film a lighthearted feel, and is eerily juxtaposed with the over-the-top slasher gore in some particular scenes.  

For all its drawbacks, the film has a renowned cast, with actors such as Joey King (The Conjuring) and Shannon Purser (Stranger Things) playing important roles. For all the cult following that both these features acquired, Wish Upon’s chosen performers will surely invite more audiences. But perhaps it turns out that the only thing worth wishing for on behalf of the viewer is for the movie to end.

★★★★★

Samuel Estebanez

Wish Upon is released nationwide on 28th July 2017.

Watch the trailer for Wish Upon here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Movie reviews

Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me

★★★★★
Andrew Murray
Read More

Capernaum

★★★★★
Catherine Sedgwick
Read More

Old Boys

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Cold Pursuit

★★★★★
Sylvia Unerman
Read More

Happy Death Day 2U

★★★★★
Musanna Ahmed
Read More

Jellyfish

★★★★★
Laura Jorden
Read More

The Kid Who Would Be King

★★★★★
Musanna Ahmed
Read More

Instant Family

★★★★★
Musanna Ahmed
Read More

A Private War

★★★★★
Cristiana Ferrauti
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

The editorial unit

Wish Upon

★★★★★

Release date

28th July 2017

Links

TwitterWebsite

Tickets

Theatre tickets

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Marighella
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Babylon Beyond Borders at the Bush Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Johnstons of Elgin autumn/winter 2019 collection presentation for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • Can-Can! at Union Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Jeremy Loops and James Hersey at the Roundhouse
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Come From Away at Phoenix Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Hanger autumn/winter 2019 collection presentation for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • STEVE O SMITH autumn/winter 2019 collection presentation for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • Pringle of Scotland autumn/winter 2019 collection catwalk show for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • Supriya Lele autumn/winter 2019 collection presentation for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Cold Pursuit
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Capernaum
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael: An interview with director Rob Garver
    Berlinale
  • Jeremy Loops and James Hersey at the Roundhouse
    ★★★★★
    Live music

Instagram

Something is wrong.
Instagram token error.
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Fund us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2018 FL Media Ltd

BBC Proms 2017: Celebrating John Williams at the Royal Albert Hall | Live review
The Wall | Movie review