
Wish You Were Here
2012, Drama/Mystery and thriller, 1h 33m
67 Reviews 5,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
Smart, slick, and thrilling, Wish You Were Here benefits from a compelling mystery at the center of its tightly wound plot, as well as strong performances from a cast that includes Joel Edgerton. Read critic reviews
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Cast & Crew
Dave Flannery
Steph McKinney
Alice Flannery
Jeremy King
Jon Canane
Max Flannery
News & Interviews for Wish You Were Here
Critic Reviews for Wish You Were Here
All Critics (67) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (19)
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It's too easily satisfying, too traditionally well-made to be an honest portrait of dissatisfaction.
November 4, 2013 | Full Review… -
An Australian mystery-thriller dominated by Joel Edgerton's fearless performance as a compromised married man.
June 20, 2013 | Rating: 2.5/4 -
Joel Edgerton gives one of the year's strongest performances.
June 13, 2013 | Rating: B+ | Full Review… -
Wish You Were Here is an excellent idea for a State Department video, to remind travelers the obvious things not to do when visiting an unfamiliar country. As a drama, it feels a little empty.
June 7, 2013 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review… -
The mysteries unravel at a steady pace and the dialogue and acting feel naturalistic, adding up to a taut and progressively tangled portrait of familial relations.
June 7, 2013 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review… -
A dull drama about domestic squabbling that hopes to be mistaken for a thriller.
June 7, 2013 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for Wish You Were Here
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Jul 24, 2015Every couple has a story to tell from their vacation. For Dave Flannery(Joel Edgerton) and his pregnant wife Alice(Felicity Price, who also co-wrote the screenplay with director Kieran Darcy-Smith), it is an unhappy one. Their fellow Australian and friend, Jeremy King(Antony Starr), has gone missing in Cambodia. When Alice's sister Steph(Teresa Palmer) is finally allowed to return home, she not only reports no fresh news on that front, but also some disturbing news on the domestic front. "Wish You Were Here" is a well-acted and modest psychological mystery that works as well it does thanks to an unsettling vibe and half a neat mystery. Once that has been resolved, my only question remains why people behave so recklessly on vacation like they do in this movie when they are on very unfamiliar turf.Walter M Super Reviewer
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Jan 06, 2014Damn good movie here with a very intriguing mystery at its core. But, perhaps, what I liked more about the film was how the characters dealt with Jeremy's disappearance after they return to Australia. I think this is, realistically, the best part of the film, seeing how one mistake can destroy someone's life. And I believe that the movie illustrates this perfectly. It's very subtle, the film doesn't make where it's heading obvious. It's just a series of little circumstances that ended up leading to the climax and I think that's a far more believable form of telling a story, because you can't pinpoint just one thing as the cause of what happened, it's a number of small things that kept piling up until the cup was full, so to speak, and things finally blew up. So I appreciate stories like that. And it gives Dave a reason to act as paranoid and suspicious as he ended up acting. He was a man who was afraid of putting his family in danger, and on top of that he's dealing with the stress of knowing what happened to Jeremy and not being able to tell anybody as he fears the negative consequences that may have on his family. It's a really smart film to be perfectly honest because, again, the storytelling is really subtle and they reveal only bits and pieces every so often in order to keep you intrigued. I found the stuff with Dave and his wife to be a little unnecessary, but it's still really well-acted, Joel Edgerton is incredible here. He perfectly captures that feeling of a man who's doing all he can to get his life back in order and pretending nothing ever happened when he was a big part of what led to Jeremy's 'disappearance'. So thumbs up for that and the script is really damn good. It knows how to create tension. It's certainly more understated than normal, but there's good tension nonetheless. Really good movie here, I can't complain much at all.Jesse O Super Reviewer
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Oct 22, 2013Good performances are the draw in this story that pretends to be about the wisdom of cautious vacationing while in Southeast Asia but is in fact is a typical take on "cheating husbands, what should we do about them?" Interesting if lightweight.Kevin M. W Super Reviewer
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Oct 08, 2013Wish You Were Here has a fascinating mystery at the core of the plot and keeps you engaged throughout thanks to good acting and gorgeous locales, but the slow pace makes it a little tougher to enjoy. The eventual reveal is also way simpler than the movie makes it out to be throughout the 90 minute run time and although it isn't entirely disappointing, it is a little lackluster. I was expecting a little more I guess. This is still totally worth watching though because it is well made and smarter than the average drama/thriller. Just don't expect the twists to blow your socks off. This film is more of a slow burner.Josh L Super Reviewer
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