According to Netflix, the Korean drama "If wishes could kill" (Vietnamese title: Điều ước đoạt mạng) currently has 7.5 million views, after debuting at number 4 on the global chart for non-English programs after only 3 days of release.
The film also entered the top 10 in 64 countries and territories, including South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Egypt, Brazil...
The work revolves around 5 high school students trapped in a curse related to the mysterious wish board application, from which they are drawn into a series of horror and supernatural events. Notably, despite being classified as age-limited due to many violent scenes, the film still creates a positive word-of-mouth effect.
One of the factors mentioned a lot is the young cast. All 5 main roles are played by relatively new faces, including: Jeon So Young, Kang Mina, Baek Sun Ho, Hyun Woo Seok and Lee Hyo Je.
According to director Park Yoon Seo, the selection of new actors was the crew's intention to create a realistic feeling for the story. The director said that most actors were taking on the main role for the first time but were very enthusiastic during the filming process. Many action scenes were performed by themselves without using stuntmen, to the point of having to use special makeup to cover up bruises.
Korean media assessed that the difference of "If wishes could kill" lies in the combination of school motifs with Korean folk beliefs, especially the sorcerer culture on Jeju Island (Korea). Besides, the film is also noticed for its continuous tension building.
The director revealed that he continuously changed the narration pace and genre during the deployment process so that viewers would not feel familiar with the story. One of the notable scenes is when the character Se Ah enters the world of the soul using a camera angle attached to her body, built according to the feeling of a first-person horror game.
Park Yoon Seo admitted that he was once hesitant about the repeated violent scenes in the film, but in the end chose to express them more directly to make a difference from horror works based only on scare elements. "I want to clarify that those actions happen under external control, not from the will of the characters" - he added.
