In the recent past, many films have started exploring the glaring inequalities in the world. No matter how they address these issues, they all try to critique the status quo. “What You Wish For” is yet another film that tries to get to the heart of the matter. It follows a down-on-luck chef who travels to meet his rich friend in his Latin American villa. As he tries to solve his existing financial problems, he falls into another rabbit hole of a situation that traps him. Written and directed by Nicholas Tomnay, this sinister thriller stars Nick Stahl in the lead role.
Spoilers Ahead
What You Wish For (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Nicholas Tomnay’s “What You Wish For” is another entry in the recent trend of ‘Eat the Rich’ themed works. It follows a chef with gambling issues who escapes to his friend’s villa with the hope of resolving his financial woes. However, along the way, he finds himself caught in another set of troubles. The screenplay written by Nicholas Tomnay is filled with several twists for a film that feels like a strange crossover between Mark Mylod’s “The Menu” and Mimi Cave’s “Fresh.”
What happens in ‘What You Wish For’?
“What You Wish For” follows Ryan Mosley (Nick Stahl), a highly skilled chef with gambling issues who is going through a rough patch. To resolve his financial woes, he travels to a Latin American country to meet his highly successful friend, Jack (Brian Groh). Ryan and Jack studied in the same culinary school and were roommates. However, only Jack could rise to the ladder of success. Ryan wonders how Jack suddenly found clients paying him to travel to expensive villas just to cook for them. On the other hand, Jack envies Ryan’s life without any responsibilities.
While having a meal in the town, Ryan & Jack bump into solo traveler Alice (Penelope Mitchell). They invite Alice for a meal at their house and to choose who cooks better. She prefers Ryan’s meal. Later, Jack sees Ryan wearing a watch that he lost to Jack in a bet 15 years ago. Jack tells Ryan to return it. While Jack spends the night with Alice, Ryan spends it by himself. The next day, Jack leaves for some work, leaving Ryan alone. Ryan finds Jack’s financial records to realize he is filthy rich. Later at night, Jack contemplates the state of the world and wealth disparity. Subsequently, he just decides to live with his life’s flow.
Jack’s Sudden Death
The day after Jack’s rambling, Ryan finds him tied to a rope. It looks like Jack killed himself. Ryan takes a while to process the loss of his friend. Soon after, he gets back to his plan of stealing Jack’s money to solve his financial problems. He calls a bank executive, posing as Jack, to get access to Jack’s financials. However, due to limited information, he can recover the money only after a couple of days. At night, he throws Jack’s body in a nearby lake. Meanwhile, he keeps avoiding texts from someone named Rabbit, who expects him to return the money he owes. Rabbit keeps threatening to hurt Ryan’s old mother. With the delays in repayments, Rabbit keeps increasing Ryan’s repayable amount.
Jack’s Secret Professional Life
To protect his mother’s life, Ryan promises to pay Rabbit at the earliest. Back at Jack’s villa, he meets Imogene (Tamsin Topolski) and Maurice (Juan Carlos Messier), who are expecting Jack to work for their new clients. Ryan pretends to be Jack and offers his help as a chef because they agree to immediately pay him an advance that can solve his financial troubles. But Ryan realizes that he is then stuck in much more serious trouble. Imogene & Maurice expect him to cook cuisines with human meat for their wealthy clientele. Since Ryan becomes anxious, Imogene tells Maurice to help him with a human victim.
At night, Ryan tries to escape, but Imogene notices him. She nonchalantly justifies killing humans for their business as it costs far fewer casualties than some other businesses. It creeps him out. The next morning, Maurice takes him to catch their victim. They follow two local women through Jack’s car across the town. Then, they bump into Jose (Felipe Solano) and decide to take him as their victim. Maurice asks for Jose’s help with their car and then shoots him. Officer Gallo (Ariel Sierra) finds Maurice and asks why he is following local women. Maurice lies that he and his senior architect, Jack, were looking for a site to build a hotel. So, the officer lets them off the hook.
Ryan’s Meal
Ryan receives his ID card under Jack’s name. Later, he packs his duffel bag to escape Jack’s villa. But he crashes his car into a gardener before he can leave the property. While dragging the car back home, Ryan asks Maurice whether he ever considered leaving this job, considering that they are expected to kill humans. Maurice talks about Greta, their old chef who couldn’t bear the nature of their work. She stopped taking pay from their agency and asked to speak with the senior officials. After that conversation, she became a personal chef for a wealthy family, as per Maurice’s knowledge. He never heard from her again.
By the night, the wealthy clients start arriving at the villa. While Ryan prepares the meal, Detective Ruiz (Randy Vasquez) arrives there with Officer Gallo to speak with Maurice about his missing nephew, Jose. Ruiz refuses to leave without meeting Maurice. So, Imogene brings the officers to Jack (Ryan). Ruiz asks Ryan about his architectural plans for their hotel. Ryan cannot lie to them with conviction. However, he pleases them with bowls of soup. Later, Ruiz meets Maurice and asks about Jose. Maurice claims Jose may have gone out on a spontaneous adventure. Ruiz finds it hard to believe since Jose has an important family function to attend.
What You Wish For (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
Ruiz doesn’t buy into Maurice’s claim that Jose may have gone out on a spontaneous adventure. He recalls other similar cases where people mysteriously disappeared. After a couple of weeks, they contacted their families through a letter on email explaining their present situation. Imogene realizes that Ruiz suspects something sinister happening at their agency. Regardless, Ruiz asks if he can join the wealthy clients for a meal. Although Imogene tries to stop that from happening, a client allows it. He does so because he wants to experience the thrill and adrenaline rush of their secret getting exposed to an officer.
Imogene provides service to these clients with their outrageous kinks. Therefore, she can’t think of any other option but to accept the client’s wishes. Soon after, Alice arrives there to meet Jack. Imogene tries not to let her enter the villa. But Alice insists she comes in. Inside, Imogene refers to Ryan as Jack. Alice finds it strange. Ryan explains that he is filling in for Jack. Then, Alice eats one of his human-meat-made dishes. He stops her and says that Jack has left for his home in England and won’t return. While walking out, Alice notices a pot filled with a liquid and suspects that it is human blood. Ryan insists she leaves immediately for the same reason.
Does Ryan manage to escape Jack’s villa?
Alice returns to her car but can’t turn on the engine. Maurice finds her and stops her from leaving. In the villa, Imogene tells Ryan the truth about Greta’s fate – Greta isn’t working for a wealthy family. After she expressed her wish to leave the job, the agency officials used her as an ingredient for their next meal. So, Ryan realizes that there’s no escape for any of them. For the dessert, he brings out Jose’s tongue but realizes that Jose may have had herpes. So, they can’t serve it. Imogene plans to use Ryan’s tongue instead. However, moments later, Alice returns and reveals that she is a solo traveler. So, Maurice cuts her tongue for dessert.
Ryan offers Ruiz sherbet without the tongue. He places a note underneath the dish and asks Ruiz to meet him in the bathroom. Once Ruiz arrives, Ryan explains the agency’s sinister activities that killed Jose. Ruiz gets nauseous, realizing he just ate his nephew’s meat. Before he leaves, Ryan takes him to the underground facility, where they cut the meat and show Jose’s face. Ruiz realizes that he left his phone in the villa. While Ryan returns to get it, Maurice smells something fishy about Ryan/Jack. So, he walks into the facility. Ruiz assumes that it is Ryan/Jack and calls for him. So, Maurice realizes Ruiz was waiting for Ryan/Jack and kills him. Moments later, Ryan reaches there to find Ruiz & Alice dead.
Does Ryan get out of the sinister agency?
After spending the night at the villa, Ryan wakes up to learn about the agency’s next plan a while later. He tells Imogene that he will return to London, which is what Jack is going to do. Maurice burns Jack’s old car while a driver takes Ryan to the airport. Ryan reaches London and stops by for a drink. A businessman next to him asks what he does. Ryan reveals that he cooks meals for rich people now and then and gets paid incredibly well. The businessman says he wishes he had Ryan’s job. Ryan doesn’t respond to him. He remains lost in the thoughts about how he can never escape the sinister agency until his death.
Final Word
Throughout the film, there is a constant thread that makes the characters say to themselves: ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ In their early lives, Ryan had a formal education that Jack couldn’t. Later, Jack suddenly got an opportunity to earn so much whereas Ryan remained caught up in financial issues. When they meet Alice, she likes Ryan’s food but sleeps with Jack. However, Ryan doesn’t talk about his money issues or his plan to steal Jack’s money. So, across their lives, they wished they led lives as the other person. However, the more they learn about it, the more they realize they shouldn’t have wished for it.
