Obsession & 6 Movies and TV Shows That Prove You Should Be Careful What You Wish For

In Curry Barker’s Obsession, lovesick Bear is desperate for his gal pal Nikki to reciprocate his feelings. Too afraid to be truthful with her about his feelings, Bear instead opts to use a One Wish Willow to get Nikki to love him ‘more than anyone in the world.’ The wording of his wish might be a tad too strong, though, as Nikki does indeed begin to love Bear, but with a sickening intensity. As those around him become bemused by their relationship, Bear struggles to come to terms with the fabrication of the wish, leading him down a very dark path that spells countless agonies for the wished-upon Nikki. 

An exceptionally mean-spirited slice of modern horror, Obsession is a brilliant example of wishes going wrong, but the experience of the wisher is far from atypical, making it a fascinating entry into the subgenre. 

The 1997 film Wishmaster proves that when it comes to wishes, Djinn, aka genies, are always looking for loopholes. The Djinn in Wishmaster is especially mischievous and takes great pleasure in warping humans’ wishes, doing whatever he can to claim the souls of those who turn to him for help. Rather than psychological torment, the Djinn in Wishmaster is solely focused on gory, over-the-top deaths. 

Over the course of four movies, the Wishmaster amasses an impressive kill count. Each death sequence has an ironic slant, such as the character who finds herself turned into a mannequin after wishing for eternal beauty. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for an impressive 144 episodes. The show chronicles the journey of the young Buffy Summers as she comes to terms with life as a vampire slayer living on the literal mouth of hell. Across all of the episodes, one that fans of the series repeatedly place within their favourites is the Season 3 episode ‘The Wish.’ The episode sees Cordelia Chase wish that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, believing that had the slayer not arrived, she would have never had her heart broken by Xander Harris. Unbeknownst to Cordelia, her new friend Anya is actually a vengeance demon, and she whisks Cordelia off to a universe wherein Buffy never came. 

There, life in Sunnydale is mandated by a curfew, with vampire and other demonic entities running amok across the town. Cordelia realises that whilst heartbreak sucks, living in this alt-universe is far worse, and she battles her way back to reality. 

In The Djinn, a young mute boy, Dylan,  wishes for a voice, but rather than getting the Disney movie treatment and suddenly finding himself able to talk, events take a dark turn. Much of The Djinn unfolds with the small child locked into a cat-and-mouse game with Dylan, unable to escape the being that he summoned. 

An interesting aspect of the wishing ritual in The Djinn is that the book from which Dylan learns about the creature spells out that the djinn will grant the wish so long as the summoner has strength of will, but cautions that their soul may be taken as payment. Being only young, Dylan ignores this, but soon comes to regret it. Dylan is eventually granted a voice, but it is one taken from another, leaving the boy once more making a wish, this time to undo what has just been done. 

Running for 15 seasons, Supernatural obviously dealt with djinns and wishes gone awry, and episodes dealing with both are some of the strongest in the show's 327-episode history. The first came during Supernatural’s second season, where Dean Winchester was trapped by a djinn. Although Dean does not directly make a wish himself, in the episode ‘What is and What Should Never be’, the older Winchester brother awakens in an alternate dimension. In this reality, both he and Sam live normal lives, and their mother never died. It’s a blissful life, and one that is very tempting for Dean to stay in, but after realising that everyone he and Sam have saved is dead, he fights his way out from under the spell. It’s a gut-wrenching and emotional episode that some fans still aren’t quite over. 

During the fourth season, Supernatural returned to wishes for the episode ‘Wishful Thinking’. This time, the brothers were investigating a small town whose wishing well granted whatever residents wanted. However, each wish came with terrible side effects, leaving several of the townspeople dead. Of all the wishes, the one that continues to haunt our dreams is that of a young girl who wishes her teddy bear could come to life. The bear, however, cannot take the harsh reality of the world and is seen crying while watching the news, experiencing a full-on existential crisis. 

Directed by Adam MacDonald, Pyewacket taps into those teenage feelings that life isn’t fair. After the death of her father, Leah’s mother insists that the two move away. The relocation requires Leah to leave all of her friends behind, a move that she quickly resents her mother for. With her mother consumed by grief, Leah is further isolated and soon falls further under the sway of black magic. 

After a particularly fierce argument with her mother, Leah is witnessed performing a dark spell, summoning a demonic being called Pyewacket to grant her wish of killing her mother. The wish is made during a typical teenage hormonal outburst. Soon after, mother and daughter have a heart-to-heart, and all ill will fades, but the spell is now in motion, and Leah must do all she can to save her mother from Pyewacket’s clutches.

Although no wish or spell is uttered aloud in What You Wish For, the entire film hinges on the concept that the grass is not always greener on the other side. The film stars Nick Stahl as a downtrodden chef with a gambling debt, Ryan, who escapes to Colombia to visit an old friend from culinary school. Whilst Ryan is at his lowest ebb, his friend Jack appears to have the dream life. He’s living in a fancy house, has plenty of money, and spends his time catering exclusive private dinner parties for the elite. After an unexpected tragedy, Ryan finds himself in Jack’s shoes and soon discovers that Jack’s dream job is actually a nightmare. Assuming Jack’s identity, Ryan’s new employers operate a highly illegal business, with a highly taboo cuisine. 

An incredibly intense viewing experience, What You Wish For might have a high-concept story, but presents a horribly realistic take on exactly why wishing for someone’s life is not the way to go.