The big picture
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what you want
it lacks the bite to become the social thriller it aspires to be. - Nick Stahl's intense performance can't save the film from a scattered ending and lack of focus.
- The film's disappointing ending doesn't lend weight to its themes, leaving viewers wanting more.
Yes what you want it was a meal, it would be one you would occasionally find filling the courses, although ultimately forgettable. It's a film without the kick to really become the social thriller it's constantly vacuuming towards.. While it makes an admirable attempt to put a horror twist on the portrait of what it means to a working-class chef in the The bear, is too limited an experience to have any telling bite or observations. Even as someone who wasn't impressed with the half-baked 2022 the menu, which is almost played in reverse, I'd take the final burger the film has to offer over this meandering meal any time. While it gathers some of the right ingredients before putting them in front of you, it never arranges them in a particularly interesting or entertaining way.
That's not to say there aren't some nibbles worth nibbling on and engaging performances to build on. While he's not always the most in-demand actor out there, Nick Stahl he's been great in other recent genre works, like the haunting 2021 What Josiah saw and the recent, sadly canceled series Enter the correct one. He brings a quiet intensity that can be a bit hard to fully pin down, making the troubled characters he plays often more magnetic than they are on the page. Unfortunately, in this case, even he feels bogged down by a script that can't settle on what it wants to be before haphazardly building to a more scattered ending. He assures that, while what you want tries to address how the world's rich consume the poorest, it just ends up eating itself and any potential it may have had.
What is “What You Wish For”?
Who prepares what must be consumed is Ryan (Stahl) who goes to visit his friend and fellow cook Jack (Brian Groh) after what has been some time apart. When he arrives in the unremarkable Latin American country, he is surprised to discover an almost absurdly beautiful house where the wealth oozing from every corner of the grounds contrasts with the poverty of the surrounding community. This already seems to be weighing on Jack, but there's a sense that there's something else going on as well. Also, we find out in bits and pieces that Ryan has had a gambling problem and is now receiving threatening text messages trying to get him to withdraw money. At one point, he even takes a look at the large amount of money in Jack's bank account on the computer. How did he make all that money? Well, Ryan soon learns that he's doing more than just preparing normal meals that he then has to fend for himself when Jack suddenly leaves. It will acquire its identity, like the recent movie much better influencer, But also all the baggage that goes with it.
There's a twist of sorts that won't be spoiled here, but if you've ever seen a movie in your life, you'll know what's coming. There are darkly comic moments where Ryan hacks into all of Jack's accounts (giving the worst possible answers to every question he's asked) and then has to talk to the customers who have arrived for the big dinner he has to prepare. The rest of the film lacks this sense of humor as it devolves into much more standard stuff that, except for a sinister self-serving monologue about how this company isn't so bad compared to the others, never raises the pulse.
Even when a police officer shows up at the diner to investigate what's going on, the film's length to keep him around dissipates any lingering tension as you can practically see the strings being pulled. The diners themselves are mostly cardboard cutouts, with only a close-to-a-real-character feel to them, which is just so they can provide a narrative reason for the cop to stick around. It looks like what you want it wants to be a kind of confined thriller where it's just a case of waiting for the shoe to drop on what we already know is happening, but it's very tepid in this build-up before landing with a thud. The dialogue is often quite forced, with one character making sure we see exactly where his phone is charging and dropping it so unnaturally it's almost comical.
'What You Wish For' will leave you wishing for a better film
This and many moments where the effects while driving seem sketchy make it harder and harder to immerse yourself in the film. However, all of this could be forgivable if the film invested us in what is going on with Ryan impersonating Jack and what he represents in the story. Unfortunately, he often fades into the background of his own film until he is brought a closure that ends less with a bang and more with a whimper.
Just when it finally looks like the film is getting somewhere after throwing empty escalation after empty escalation just to stay afloat, it abruptly descends into a more boring but equally forced final scene. What he seems to be trying to get at is that, when it comes down to it, Ryan was finally willing to accept his lot in life, even if it meant being complicit in the cruelty to others. Sure, he made extra money doing it, but the cost of selling your soul, as well as the souls of others, is the kind of thing you can never afford. That this sounds like it could be a powerful ending on paper only makes it all the more disappointing in execution.
There was no weight given to any of these ideas until the very end, and there is certainly no salvation in the final series of scenes. Regardless of what I try to serve you in a large number of courses, what you want it just leaves you wishing the actual meal would begin instead of one that merely pays lip service to its deepest thoughts.
what you want is now available to stream on VOD and is showing in theaters across the US. Click below to see times near you.
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