Wish Upon

An enjoyable chiller featuring an Aladdin's lamp that reveals a darker side...

Death wish: Joey King

Seventeen-year-old Clare Shannon (Joey King) is still haunted by her mother’s suicide. She now lives with her father Jonathan (Ryan Phillippe), who tries to make ends meet by collecting scrap metal from skips. This is always an embarrassment for Clare until her father finds an old music box with ancient Chinese writing on it, which he gives her as a gift. Clare thinks it may be a kind of Aladdin’s lamp and can’t believe her luck when her first wish comes true. Life in high school is never the same again, but there is a price to pay and it is with blood. People close to her begin to drop like flies, dying in the most horrible and unexpected ways...

Joey King makes a vulnerable heroine as the awkward teenager and Ryan Phillippe looks suitably down and out as the struggling father – until his luck changes and he becomes the most popular dad on the block. The presence of Sherilyn Fenn (from Twin Peak) as a friendly neighbour adds intrigue and mystery. John R Leonetti’s enjoyable chiller may spring a series of sequels, like the Final Destination franchise, even though it is not as slick or imaginative.

GEORGE SAVVIDES

Cast: Joey King, Ki Hong Lee, Sydney Park, Elisabeth Röhm, Ryan Phillippe, Victor Sutton, Mitchell Slaggert, Shannon Purser, Sherilyn Fenn, Jerry O'Connell (uncredited).

Dir John R. Leonetti, Pro Sherryl Clark, Screenplay Barbara Marshall, Ph Michael Galbraith, Pro Des Bob Ziembicki, Ed Peck Prior, Music Tomandandy, Costumes Antoinette Messam.

Busted Shark Productions-Vertigo Releasing.
90 mins. USA/Canada. 2017. Rel: 28 July 2017. Cert. 15.