Genie, Make a Wish ~ You Rubbed the Lamp, You Get Three Wishes

“Genie, Make a Wish” is a 2025 Netflix original series Korean drama, 13 episodes, categorized as Fantasy and Romantic Comedy (Rom-Com).

• Memorable Quote: “I wanted Ka-young to know [and feel] that she actually received such incredible unconditional love [in her life].”

SUMMARY: From the time she was a child, she had the urge to kill. That makes her a psychopath, right? But her grandmother and everybody in the village helped her turn her rage and urges into good constructive behavior. But there was a genie who had been searching for her for 983 years. He finally found her. And then …

♦ Make Three (3) Wishes and Hurry Up!

In “Genie, Make a Wish”, Ki Ka-Young traveled to Dubai and was on a tour with the rest of the group. The group kept following the tour guide, but she lingered behind. The,n when she got ready to walk, she tripped over a lamp lying in the desert sand. She tried to throw it away, but it came back and she tripped over it again. Angered by tripping twice, she grabbed the lamp and, between shaking and rubbing the dust off, a genie emerged. He doesn’t have a name. Just call him Genie.

Talk about being happy and excited. He had been in that lamp for 983 years, and all that time his assistant had been searching for a human. It was a girl who had a pure soul. If he could corrupt her, he would no longer be trapped in that lamp and have the freedom to go anywhere. If he could not corrupt her, he would be trapped forever. For him, this was an easy mission because, based on his experience, all humans are very easy to corrupt. Especially when you give them three (3) wishes. They can’t control their greed, lust, and other evil desires. He just needs to find this girl. He’ll know her by the smell. Not all lumps of clay smell the same. When Genie got released from the lamp, he sniffed Ki Ka-Young. It was her! She had that same smell, even though it’s been almost 1000 years.

♦ You Don’t Want to Make Three (3) Wishes? 

NOW! Make your three (3) wishes. Talk about becoming unhappy and unexcited. Ki Ka-young didn’t want to make 3 wishes. WHAT??!! If she doesn’t wish for anything, how can he corrupt her? Ki Ka-young told Genie that anything she has ever Wanted she has been able to get it for herself. Not by wishing but by Working and also investing her money Wisely. She started investing when she was in high school.

Genie is perplexed. She doesn’t want to make a wish? What is he going to do now?

Main Characters:

• Genie (played by Kim Woo-Bin, “Officer Black Belt”, “Black Knight”, “Alienoid 1 and 2”, “KBS Drama Special Series: White Christmas”)
• Ki Ka-Young (played by Bae Suzy, “Wonderland”, “Ashfall”, “Anna”, “The Sound of a Flower”, “Doona!”, “Kangchi, the Beginning (aka Gu Family Book)”, “While You Were Sleeping”, “Vagabond”, “Start-Up”)
• Lee Mi-Ju (played by Ahn Eun-Jin, “GoodBye Earth”, “Citizen of a Kind”, “My Dearest 1 and 2”, “The Good Bad Mother”, “Dark Hole”)
• Ryu Su-Hyeon (played by Noh Sang-Hyun, “My Military Valentine”, “Behind Every Star”, “Curtain Call”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 5.9 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.6 out of 10 stars
• Google public reviews: 5.9 out of 10

My personal rating is 6 out of 10 stars.

“Genie, Make a Wish” will not make my re-watch list. The dialogue was super cheesy and rather insensitive. My favorite character was the support character who could change from animal to human. I loved him as a jaguar. The very first wish that the main character made was intriguing. But not something I would have wished for. Actually, the most frustrating thing about watching this series was that … I kept wondering ~ if a genie were real ~ what would my 3 wishes be? My mind drew a blank. I couldn’t think of anything in this world to wish for. (O.o) Can you?

• ENTERTAINMENT NEWS/CONTROVERSY: “Netflix’s fantasy K-drama Genie: Make A Wish has found itself at the centre of a storm. Soon after its release, viewers across the world accused the series of twisting Islamic beliefs and using sacred religious concepts for entertainment. The outrage has been so intense that it has now become the lowest-rated K-drama of 2025, earning just 5.9 out of 10 on Google reviews.” (REF: Bagchi, Nillohit. “Genie: Make A Wish Faces Intense Backlash as Netflix Show Accused of Romanticising Iblis, Becomes 2025’s Lowest-Rated Korean Drama.” Poprant.Indiatimes.Com, 7 Oct. 2025.)

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Hooked on Genie, Make a Wish? Don’t Miss These Kim Woo-Bin And Bae Suzy Dramas | CNN-News18 India

Genie Make A Wish Review: A Magic Carpet Ride of Chaos | But Why Tho?

K-Drama Review: Genie, Make A Wish [ 2025] by Megha Pavangad | Medium

Genie, Make a Wish Ending Explained: What Happens in New K-Drama | Netflix Tudum

Genie, Make A Wish Review: Kim Woo-bin and Bae Suzy reunited chemistry casts a spell almost | India Today

TRAILER/TEASER:

Netflix K-Content. “Genie, Make a Wish.” YouTube, Video, 17 Sept. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=PaZIDBqhVSk.

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