While fantasy films often cause me intellectual discomfort, I can be brought around if they are done well.  This one is.

George Miller’s fable explores the “three wishes” scenario we all know.  A scholar (Tilda Swinton) in Istanbul releases a djinn (Idris Elba) from his imprisonment and is granted three wishes in gratitude.  Being cautious, the scholar delays her choices and asks for information about the djinn’s previous experiences.  He tells her about his life and how other people mishandled or wasted their wishes.  She grows to trust the trickster and, when she does eventually choose her wishes, makes surprising choices.

Miller is a cinematic director, as his grand “Mad Max” adventures have proven repeatedly.  He uses all sorts of visual tricks and treats here, from smoke and mirrors to animation, altered perspective and time dilation.  Visually, the film is a feast for the eyes, especially because it soars through various periods of history as the djinn recounts his past.  Yet what really works for me is its script.  The scholar gets over her surprise at the djinn’s massive appearance in moments; from then on its as if she were considering to make an expensive purchase and wants to not make a costly mistake.  The dialogue is intelligent and sly; both characters have humor and irony to express.  Nothing is taken for granted; everything is questioned and sought to be understood.

Ultimately this is not a cautionary tale about reckless wish-making.  It’s the story of two people from completely different backgrounds getting to know, like and trust one another, something which the djinn’s own history proves to be rarely found.  The scholar is drawn to the djinn not because she needs or desires the three wishes, but precisely because she doesn’t.  Fate brings to her lonely life an opportunity to really explore and learn what life has been throughout various periods of time and what it can become for her, now and going forward.  It’s quite a compelling story.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  19 April 2026.