“Wish Upon” Exchanges Wicked Horror Cleverness for a Slight Muddled Hesitation
by Joe Hammerschmidt
It can be said that it takes plenty of guts, or preferably blood and/or a promising horror premise to counter against the masculine-driven Planet of the Apes franchise. Leave it to John R. Leonetti, once a dedicated cinematographer, now returning with his directorial follow-up to Annabelle, the female-led horror Wish Upon, to at least try. Yet in the first ten minutes, it already struggles to warrant very few going out of their way to endure/enjoy what is essentially a clever piece of writing weighed down by heavy genericism, and a cast in need of extra silver polish. This is a pity, as there are many moments throughout that keep a fair glimmer of hope that Leonetti knows which direction he’s taking with the audiences. By diverting the faults with multiple jump scares and random twists, however, it’s impossible not to experience an overwhelming exhaustion by the time the 90 minutes formally pass by.
Clare Shannon (Joey King) is facing high school trauma on a daily basis, coupled with the unforgettable sight of her mother Johanna (Elizabeth Rohm) committing suicide at a young age. Much of her world appears frozen in time to that particular day. She manages appropriately, and Jonathan (Ryan Phillipe), a father whom she finds a total embarrassment after losing his touch as a pro musician, and at the likely advent of Ryan, a crush she denies just as much (Ki Hong Lee). In his latest round of dumpster diving, a favorite pasttime of his, dear Jonathan uncovers a mysterious box with ancient Chinese writing. As effective a McGuffin as in any other film this year, activity picks up fast with Clare struggling to follow along to the demands of this box. Every time she grants a wish without necessarily knowing the box’s powers, for each wish a debt must be paid, namely a soul deserving (or the reverse) of their non-presence.
Leonetti’s assembled cast is on point with the almost silly nature of the endeavor, still playing it serious even as their shared universe crumbles into nonsense. King, now 17, appears to have evolved further as a serious actress since last spotting her on Fargo. Having collaborated with Leonetti before, as James Wan’s DoP on The Conjuring, how he hooked the Annabelle gig in the first place, King is obviously no stranger to the horror/thriller field, and her stake may have been raised a little higher by showing more of the mental strife that is bound to any heroine of the genre. King sets an effortless tone for her fellow performers, even if they themselves can’t stay ahead of the pack. Phillippe could’ve done with more time as Clare’s closest role model; she is satisfied with him once more after regaining his street cred as an almost sitcom-y successful sax player.
Our forward momentum depends, heavily on Clare’s descent into near-madness with each continuing usage of the box. Even her closest friends, June (Shannon Purser) and Meredith (Sydney Park) are of no help in preventing her from using up her remaining wishes, 7 in total. Like a classic Twilight Zone, reliance on supernatural tendencies (and any related plot twists) will slap you in the face without cease. The difference between this film and classic TZ is there is honestly no chance for a breather in between the heart-pounding moments; all tension without a single plateau. Otherwise, the antics presented remain on solid footing during the brisk runtime.
Alas, Leonetti’s way with unraveling the strings on a tightly wound slab of meaty suspense stops at the point when it becomes too obvious how inconsistent the idea of placing this in a high school setting makes all other elements appear by comparison. I tried not to let it bother me too much, yet when a off-brand Pokémon Go parody sticks out like a sore thumb, it’s possible one is trying too hard to stick with a motif that otherwise doesn’t fit. More accurately, it almost breaks the film’s heartbeat with no chance of reorganizing itself. Wish Upon possesses some worthy, fleeting glances of an otherwise flawless, and oft-times insatiably clever piece of horror filmmaking. Yet the combination of the least necessary director, a lead who deserves a more substantial gig in the next year to atone for any sin, and the necessity to overextend smaller chunks of framing to fill a whole timeline, undoes any positives coming its way. Leonetti mistakenly glosses over the good stuff, the sweet sugary core to leave us just the foil wrapping; it can be licked to find remnants of goodness, but if consumed in whole will just leave a worse mess than what we as an audience had gone in with. It is scary, but stops short in the department of “why bother?” (D+)
Wish Upon opens today at most area theatres; rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing images, thematic elements and language; 90 minutes.
