Jeri Jacquin

Screamfest is bringing many offerings and from writer/director Nicholas Tomnay comes a dish served differently with WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

Chef Ryan (Nick Stahl) is in financial trouble and decides to head to Latin America to fellow chef and friend Jack (Brian Groh). Having not seen each other for 12 years, Ryan is impressed with where Jack has landed being a chef to the uber rich. Ryan is also hiding from someone he owes a great deal of money too and is intending to hurt his family.

Enjoy a few comforts in the multi-million-dollar house Jack is staying at, Ryan is a little envious of the life his friend is living. Interestingly enough, Jack does not seem as excited about his job as Ryan is. When Jack disappears one night, Ryan makes the split decision to take over his life in its entirety, money, identity and all. There is a catch.

Enter Imogene (Tamsin Topolski), the head of the company Jack works for and she is expecting Jack/Ryan to be preparing a dinner for very special guests. Quickly, Jack/Ryan learns what is expected of him in the most horrible and heinous of ways. Realizing there is no way out, he begins to do what is asked of him.

The dinner starts out well until an unexpected visitor, a Detective Ruiz (Randy Basquez) is looking for his nephew. Imogene manages to keep her cool and even Ryan is managing to get the job done until he meets Det. Ruiz and discovers that the life his friend Jack was living has an underlying dark side making escape impossible.

Stahl as Ryan gives us the character of a man between a rock and a cash hard place. He is nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof while being a tad jealous of the life his friend has, especially when he sees Jack’s finances. It all seems like its too good to be real and, as the title suggests,

Shout out to David Tominaga as Akira because he seemed to be having fun during all the happenings and chaos. Not phased one bit by what is going on around him, he actually invites trouble and offers it dinner without a care in the world. He made my jaw drop and then I laughed so well-done sir!

Topolski as Imogene is calm, cool, collected and a bit nerve wracking to watch as she goes from one potential disaster to another. Her character almost glides instead of walks through these scenes knowing just what to say and how to handle anyone that gets in the way. Okay, I just love this character and Topolski add her frightening grace and style as nothing seems to shake her.

Basquez as Detective Ruiz is about to discover more than he had ever planned but, in the meantime, just sit right on up to the table and enjoy the most fabulous chef made dinner on the planet dude!

Other cast include Juan Carlos Messier as Maurice, Ariel Sierra as Officer Gallo, Norma Nivia as Frankie, Megumi Hasebe as Li Na, Evan Sudarsky as Alvin, Greg Winter as Barry, Maria Gomez as Maria, Brian Acuna as Roberto, Maria Cuellar as the Grandmother, Raphael Philippon as Bjorn, and Penelope Mitchell as Alice.

WHAT YOU WISH FOR is a frightening lesson in living beyond one’s means, running away, and the biggest of all evils – jealousy. The character of Ryan, step by step, gets into so much trouble with money that he thinks running away will save him. When he realizes it won’t, what normal people wouldn’t do, Ryan does! He wants to be shocked by the life his friend has been leading but it doesn’t stop him from taking what isn’t his.

Keeping the story in a very tight quarters makes for fantastic tension with each event pushing the human envelope further and further. The viewer then is left to question, how far are all these people willing to go? When that question is answered, you might want to put the popcorn down!

Writer/director Tomnay takes us on a delicious journey of human nature and then slams us with the harsh reality of what his created characters are capable of. The casting is excellent as each has their definitive role and watching them interact will either leave your horrified or delighted – perhaps a nice mixture of both is acceptable as well.

In the end – escape, forever!

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