Put everything down and open up your app store… or don’t! April 24, 2026, was the long-awaited launch date for If Wishes Could Kill (aka Girigo), and I am losing my mind. The Netflix original is this year’s black-and-white, dark, twisted, and addictive K-drama. If you’ve ever watched a show where you feel like you’re trapped in a nightmare, like Night Has Come or the game is of life or death, like All of Us Are Dead, this is the show for you. It takes our real-life obsession with Facebook and Instagram and turns it into an action-packed horror show that kept me holding the sheets through all 8 episodes.
It has the best, worst, and most relatable premise for Gen Z. A group of students at Seorin High School finds an obscure, invite-only app called “Girigo”. All they have to do is film a clip, and their wishes will come true. Sounds easy? Maybe. But it’s a life-or-death situation. It feels like going from “cool thing to do” to “murder” in a matter of seconds. Trust me, once you watch this, you’ll want to smash your phone and flee to a cabin in the woods.
Meet the Seorin High Survivors
Let’s chat about the cast because I’m head over heels. Jeon So-young is Yoo Se-ah, a sprinter and the brains and brawn of the team. She is so fierce! As she goes from confused to detective to save her friends is the best.
And her secret boyfriend, Kim Geon-woo (played by the literal angel Baek Sun-ho). Her and her boyfriend’s relationship is so cute. I screamed every time they were together! I wanted them to elope and live happily ever after, but the “Girigo” app says otherwise. And we have Kang Mi-na as the “it girl” Lim Na-ri. She begins as the stereotypical “it girl,” but her character development is one of the show’s most heartbreaking. Her fall from grace to being driven is so real.
On the tech front, Hyun Woo-seok stars as Kang Ha-joon, the prodigy who believes that he can hack his way out of a supernatural curse. You can’t! The paranormal aspect is even more interesting when his sister, Ha-sal (played by super-smoking-hot Jeon So-nee), enters the picture. She is a shaman, and the show’s blending of 21st-century technology and traditional Korean shamanic ceremonies is brilliant. It really helps to ground the horror of it.
The Good, The Bad, and The Bloody
Let’s be honest, though. This show is a wild thriller, but it has some issues. The first four episodes are perfect. It’s fast-paced, scary, and the mystery is excellent. But I think the story starts to become a bit too slow from episode 6. There is some decision-making from the characters that starts to feel a little bit like a “slasher movie” where you want to shout at them for walking into the basement.
We learn a lot of things very fast, and I would have liked to have had another episode to explore the lore of the curse. Also, this show is very bloody— so be warned if you are squeamish! So it’s not for everyone, but for horror fans like us, it’s a feast for the eyes.
The Price of a Wish: Ending Explained
The finale is a total “doomed yuri” vibe with the backstory of the two girls who started the curse. The “Girigo” app is more than a disembodied spirit. It’s a computerised form of an ancient curse based on envy and hate. The app doesn’t generate evil; it merely provides a means.
The twist is that uninstalling the app won’t help. The curse is within the wish. To break the chain, a character needs to make the ultimate sacrifice to “overwrite” its “code” of the curse with selfless love. While the main cast manages to survive, the final scene shows a post-credit sting with a “brother-in-law’s eye”. The very last scene shows the arrival of another “recommended app” on Na-Ri’s phone with a different person, which basically means that as long as there are greedy and envious people in the world, the horror will go on. Chills!
Drama/Series Info
- Title: If Wishes Could Kill (Girigo)
- Release Date: April 24, 2026 (All Episodes)
- Total Episodes: 8
- Genre: YA Horror, Supernatural Mystery, Thriller
- Cast: Jeon So-young, Kang Mi-na, Baek Sun-ho, Hyun Woo-seok, Jeon So-nee
- Where to Watch: Netflix
Ratings
- Overall Score: 7.9/10
- Recommendation: This is a must-watch for fans who loved the survival games in Night Has Come or the dark supernatural vibes of Revenant. It’s perfect for a weekend binge with your bravest friends.
- Rewatch Value: 6.2/10. Now that I know the ending, I want to go back and see all the “glitches” in the app from the first episode that I missed.
Optional Ratings
- Story: 8/10
- Acting: 10/10
- Chemistry: 9/10
- Cinematography: 9/10
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