this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2026
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I watched with my girlfriend and we felt really weird after. It really played with stereotypes like the "crazy girlfriend" and the "poor nice guy". He is portrayed as the victim most of the movie, which we found very strange. The movie is very well made with some nice effects and new ideas, but it really felt odd for 2026.
Edit: as you are describing the movie things come to my mind again, I could originally only recall that "feeling" it left me with. Of course he is portrayed as the villain, I was wrong with that take. Yes we have the hotline call, the "please kill me" scene and the end scene. Still I felt the female perspective was totally underrepresented in the movie. Nikki has not a real back story, she is just the crazy bitch for the guy wishing the monkeys paw wish getting wrong.
I know, it is a horror movie and it's for entertainment, but I found the male/female stereotypes boring. In the end for me it is a male fantasy movie and I find the message very shallow.
He’s definitely played as a tragic villain for the entirety of the film. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m questioning if commenters like this ever watched the movie.
I think the movie was very subtle about these things. It’s 100% there, but if you’re not in the specific mindset to notice then, it’s easy to miss.
Especially if you think wishing a girl loved you should work. If his wish is reasonable, then the rest of the movie is unfair to him.
Really? I didn't think it was subtle at all. Even pretty early, when he drives her home and fails to tell her what he thinks about her, I found it pretty obvious that everything that happens to him is a consequence of his own actions. At this point it can still be excused by him being insecure but as soon as he uses the willow, it is very clear that he doesn't care even a tiny bit about what she wants, he just wants to own her.
The only part he can be excused for is making the wish, imo. It is a reaction born out of his frustration with his lack of confidence, and he doesn't know that it will really work.
Once it became clear that the wish had a real effect, and he chose to ignore the real Nikki's suffering and indulge himself in the lie, he became a complete villain.
If he had instead wished for the courage to tell Nikki how he felt, completely different movie.
There's definitely some development supposed to be happening, but I can't 100% point my finger to what causes it or why.
His character is written specifically to ask "Is Nikki happy?" and in the beginning he stands down because he thought he did "something she didn't like". The full switch happens way later, I suspect after the "rape-scene" when he learned the truth about her father. Why that is, I can not explain, I guess most people would handle that hypothetical situation completely differently, which makes him difficult to empathize later on.
45 year old me thought it was obvious too. But I think 20 year old me wouldn't have. He was a simp