Synopsis
Bear is the typical shy and introverted boy who struggles to confess his crush to a girl, Nikki, a friend and coworker of his, more outgoing and determined than he is. After yet another failed attempt to give voice to his feelings, Bear, willing to try anything, throws himself into a desperate yet seemingly harmless act: he uses a “one wish willow,” a stick that grants the wish of whoever breaks it. Bear makes a very specific wish, namely that Nikki will love him more than anyone else in the world. But, at his own expense, he will learn that one must be careful what one wishes for and that, above all, every wish comes at a price.
Review
4 min read
Reviewed by Achille
· 30. April 2026
Curry Barker, with this film marking his entry into the world of cinema proper, skillfully employs an irrational device to broadly address two themes that are widely discussed today and that influence one another: toxic relationships and consent.
The development of the film aims to portray the evolution of the characters, their identities and their values, without dwelling too much on what is right or wrong—two ambiguous terms in the realm of relationships—but rather to pose a question with a potentially chilling answer: what are we willing to do in order to be loved?
The development of the film aims to portray the evolution of the characters, their identities and their values, without dwelling too much on what is right or wrong—two ambiguous terms in the realm of relationships—but rather to pose a question with a potentially chilling answer: what are we willing to do in order to be loved?
Nikki’s character answers this question exhaustively: anything. The girl is, in fact, the victim of a sort of spell or hypnosis, whose supernatural aspect is handled deftly by the director, providing just enough information to sustain the viewer’s interest without overwhelming it.
After Bear’s wish for love is granted, Nikki develops a genuine dependency on him: she cannot be away from him for even a second, desperately tries to make him feel loved, and attempts to sustain a relationship that has nothing authentic about it.
Her behavior stages all the clichés typical of a toxic relationship, pushing them to extremes: screaming, hysterical crying, murders, and threats of suicide become everyday occurrences. All of this, however, is laced with a healthy dose of self-irony, characteristic of a couple that is a masterpiece of imbalance: she obsessed and dependent, he terrified and disoriented.
After Bear’s wish for love is granted, Nikki develops a genuine dependency on him: she cannot be away from him for even a second, desperately tries to make him feel loved, and attempts to sustain a relationship that has nothing authentic about it.
Her behavior stages all the clichés typical of a toxic relationship, pushing them to extremes: screaming, hysterical crying, murders, and threats of suicide become everyday occurrences. All of this, however, is laced with a healthy dose of self-irony, characteristic of a couple that is a masterpiece of imbalance: she obsessed and dependent, he terrified and disoriented.
Nikki thus becomes a metaphor for those who, in a relationship, mistake love for a task: satisfying their partner.
Devotion turns into servitude, every gesture of care becomes part of a protocol, and personal identity fades until it is reduced to an echo of others’ needs and desires.
Thus, consent ceases to be a choice renewed each day and becomes passive acceptance, a silent renunciation.
Devotion turns into servitude, every gesture of care becomes part of a protocol, and personal identity fades until it is reduced to an echo of others’ needs and desires.
Thus, consent ceases to be a choice renewed each day and becomes passive acceptance, a silent renunciation.
“Love is the project of making oneself loved… the one who wants to be loved does not desire the beloved’s servitude. But if he is loved by an automaton, he is no longer loved.”
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Bear, on the other hand, undergoes a far more complex evolution, without relying on a supernatural trigger, which makes everything all the more disturbingly realistic.
In the first part of the film, he bears no real fault: he acts unknowingly, without realizing that, once the stick is broken, what he wished for would actually come true.
When Nikki’s behavior becomes excessively bizarre and unsettling, he decides to call the number he finds on the back of the packaging containing the mystical object. The operator he speaks with, after informing him that the wishes already made cannot be undone, reveals a truth Bear did not see—or perhaps did not want to see: to love someone also means to take care of them. But at this point, the film becomes even more enigmatic.
In the first part of the film, he bears no real fault: he acts unknowingly, without realizing that, once the stick is broken, what he wished for would actually come true.
When Nikki’s behavior becomes excessively bizarre and unsettling, he decides to call the number he finds on the back of the packaging containing the mystical object. The operator he speaks with, after informing him that the wishes already made cannot be undone, reveals a truth Bear did not see—or perhaps did not want to see: to love someone also means to take care of them. But at this point, the film becomes even more enigmatic.
Nikki, in fact, becomes a body, a vessel hosting two personalities: the original one and the one programmed to love Bear. He must therefore decide whether to care for the girl he was in love with or for a sentimental automaton.
From here, his image deteriorates irreversibly.
Indeed, when he is confronted with Nikki’s suffering, and in a moment of lucidity she asks him to end her life, he turns away, as if unwilling to face the problem, since doing so would imply admitting that the relationship was never genuine. Nikki’s request stages a dilemma that anyone who has experienced a romantic bond has faced at least once: to what extent are we willing to sacrifice another’s freedom in order to sustain the illusion of love?
When someone is dependent on us, the boundary between care and possession becomes terrifyingly thin.
Bear is frightened, yet at the same time too selfish to confront the possibility of Nikki’s rejection, even at the cost of keeping her in chains.
From here, his image deteriorates irreversibly.
Indeed, when he is confronted with Nikki’s suffering, and in a moment of lucidity she asks him to end her life, he turns away, as if unwilling to face the problem, since doing so would imply admitting that the relationship was never genuine. Nikki’s request stages a dilemma that anyone who has experienced a romantic bond has faced at least once: to what extent are we willing to sacrifice another’s freedom in order to sustain the illusion of love?
When someone is dependent on us, the boundary between care and possession becomes terrifyingly thin.
Bear is frightened, yet at the same time too selfish to confront the possibility of Nikki’s rejection, even at the cost of keeping her in chains.
A dynamic that echoes Together by Michael Shanks, in its way of portraying love as a distorting bond.
However, by the end of the film, as the extreme expression of a psyche pushed to its limits, Bear commits something irreversible. In this sense, perhaps, the film seeks to present us with a solution, a harsh but necessary truth: sometimes, the best thing to do is to learn to let go.
“Where there is power, there is never pure consent, but rather a disguised submission.”
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
In conclusion, Curry Barker’s debut film manages to be at once disturbing, self-ironic, and splatter (without lapsing into ostentation), endowed with a rare depth in addressing delicate themes deeply rooted in contemporary reality.
