Name: Wish Upon
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Fantasy
Released: 2017-07-07T00:00:00+00:00
Cast: Joey King, Ki Hong Lee, Sydney Park, Shannon Purser, Sherilyn Fenn

The music box spins, its delicate tinkling a macabre lullaby as another life unravels in “Wish Upon,” John R. Leonetti’s 2017 supernatural horror misfire. The camera lingers on the ornate object, its promise of magic and mayhem hanging heavy in the air—but this is the closest the film comes to atmospheric tension. What follows is a labyrinthine journey through predictable tropes and underdeveloped themes, a journey that never quite finds its footing.

Leonetti, known for his visual prowess on films like “The Conjuring,” can’t salvage the paper-thin plot crafted by Barbara Marshall. The film opens with Clare Shannon (Joey King), a seventeen-year-old high school outcast haunted by the memory of her mother’s suicide. Her father, Jonathan (Ryan Phillippe), a hoarder and dumpster diver, finds a Chinese music box and gives it to Clare. The box, inscribed with cryptic symbols, grants seven wishes—but each comes with a deadly price. This premise, while not entirely original, could have been compelling in the right hands. Instead, “Wish Upon” stumbles through its runtime like a teen desperate for attention but lacking substance.

Joey King delivers a commendable performance as Clare Shannon. She brings a palpable desperation to the role, her transformation from a lonely teenager into a morally bankrupt manipulator is the film’s most engaging arc. King’s ability to convey Clare’s internal struggle—her initial skepticism giving way to seductive power-hunger—is the film’s sole saving grace. However, the supporting cast fares less well. Ki Hong Lee as Ryan Hui and Sydney Park as Meredith McNeil are saddled with underwritten roles. Their characters serve little purpose beyond moving Clare’s story forward, their arcs abruptly cut short to accommodate the film’s rushed pacing.

Ryan Phillippe, as Clare’s father Jonathan, is criminally underused. His hoarder backstory is introduced late in the film and discarded just as quickly, a missed opportunity for added depth and emotional resonance. Shannon Purser, as June Acosta, fares slightly better but even her character feels one-dimensional, reduced to a plot device in the film’s final act.

The film’s greatest sin is its lack of originality. The “wish comes at a price” trope has been mined to exhaustion, and “Wish Upon” offers no fresh perspective. The rules governing the box are haphazardly established and inconsistently applied, leading to narrative whiplash. One moment, Clare’s wishes have immediate, devastating consequences; the next, she manipulates the box’s power with impunity. The film’s attempt to ground its supernatural elements in a historical backstory—Lu Mei’s tragic revenge—feels tacked on, a desperate bid for emotional weight that falls flat.

Leonetti’s direction is competently serviceable but lacks the atmospheric tension that elevates even the most derivative horror fare. The death scenes, meant to be the film’s chilling centerpiece, are underwhelming, relying too heavily on jump scares and gore over genuine dread. The film’s one standout sequence—a slow-motion elevator plummets 30 floors—feels like a stolen moment from “Devil,” another supernatural thriller that handled its premise with far more finesse.

The film’s soundtrack, while not entirely unappealing, often feels at odds with the on-screen action. The use of Marilyn Manson’s “Resident Evil” theme in the score preview suggests a tonal misstep, an attempt to inject edginess where none exists. The film’s visual style is equally unremarkable, with Leonetti relying too heavily on generic horror aesthetics rather than crafting a distinct look.

“Wish Upon” squanders its potential at every turn, offering neither the visceral thrills of a good horror film nor the emotional resonance of a compelling drama. It’s a film that seems to be aiming for a YA audience but lacks the charm and wit of successful teen horror like “Fright Night” or “Jennifer’s Body.” Instead, it feels like a pale imitation, a desperate attempt to capitalize on the popularity of supernatural thrillers without offering anything new.

The film’s themes are equally underdeveloped. The exploration of grief and guilt is promising but never fully realized. Clare’s struggle with her mother’s suicide could have been a compelling emotional core, but the film glosses over it in favor of cheap scares and predictable plot twists. The moral ambiguity of Clare’s actions—her willingness to sacrifice others for personal gain—is similarly underdeveloped, reducing what could have been a nuanced exploration of human nature into a simplistic morality tale.

In the end, “Wish Upon” is a film that feels like it was made by committee, a product of focus groups and market research rather than creative vision.