Kim Woo-bin and Bae Suzy reuniting nearly a decade after “Uncontrollably Fond” was always going to be an event, but pairing them with megahit writer Kim Eun-sook (the mind behind “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” and “Mr. Sunshine”) made “Genie, Make a Wish” one of the most anticipated K-dramas of late 2025. It delivered on star power and visual spectacle — but whether it delivers on story is where critics and fans have found themselves split right down the middle.
Overview
“Genie, Make a Wish” reimagines the classic genie-in-a-lamp fable as a supernatural romance, swapping in a centuries-old, morally gray genie (who also happens to be Iblis — Satan, in Islamic tradition) and a young woman who feels no emotion at all. Wishes, cosmic wagers, and a slow-burn love story across lifetimes follow.
Key Details
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 13 Ep (60 minutes per episode) |
| Genre | Fantasy, Romantic Comedy, Drama, Mythology |
| Cast | Kim Woo-bin, Bae Suzy, Ahn Eun-jin, Noh Sang-hyun, Ko Kyu-pil, Lee Joo-young — with cameos from Daniel Henney and Song Hye-kyo |
| Release Date | October 3, 2025 |
| Where to watch | Netflix |
| Rating | 7.6/10 |
Plot Summary
Ki Ka-young was born without the ability to feel ordinary human emotion — raised by her strict, loving grandmother in a small Korean village after being abandoned by her mother. Cold, blunt, and largely indifferent to the world around her, she stumbles across an ancient lamp while confronting her mother in Dubai and unknowingly frees Iblis, a genie who has spent a thousand years imprisoned inside it.
Iblis isn’t just any genie — he’s a fallen celestial being once punished for a rebellion tied to forbidden love in a past life he doesn’t remember. Bound to grant Ka-young three wishes, he expects her to ask for wealth, power, or revenge, the way humans always do. Instead, she wishes for the happiness of others, quietly unraveling his cynical belief that humanity is fundamentally corruptible.
As Iblis fumbles his way through smartphones, traffic, and small-town Korean life, his fascination with Ka-young deepens into something neither of them expected. But their growing bond draws the attention of celestial forces — including Iblis’s brother and enforcer, Ejlael — who see their romance as a violation of a much older, cosmic wager: proving whether humans are capable of resisting corruption at all. As the story dips into Goryeo-era flashbacks, Dubai-set mystery arcs, and a tangled web of past-life connections, Ka-young and Iblis are forced to confront a shared history that may be the key to breaking the cycle they’re both trapped in.
Why You Should Watch
- Kim Woo-bin and Bae Suzy’s chemistry is the real draw. Reuniting after 2016’s “Uncontrollably Fond,” the two leads bring an easy, lived-in dynamic that critics consistently single out as the show’s strongest asset.
- A genuinely different premise. A genie-as-Satan mythology, paired with a female lead who has an antisocial personality disorder, isn’t the typical K-drama rom-com setup — it’s a swing for something more ambitious than most fantasy dramas attempt.
- Kim Woo-bin gets to be funny. Known largely for intense, brooding roles, he shows off surprising comedic range here as the mischievous, clueless-about-modernity Iblis.
Recommendations: What to Watch Next
If “Genie, Make a Wish” left you wanting more myth-meets-romance chaos, try these next:
- Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (Goblin) — Also from writer Kim Eun-sook, and generally considered the gold standard for this “immortal being falls for a mortal” genre.
- Hotel del Luna — Another fantasy romance blending the afterlife, cosmic rules, and slow-burn love, with IU and Yeo Jin-goo.
- My Demon — For more “morally grey supernatural being + human woman” enemies-to-lovers energy, with a lighter comedic touch.
- Mr. Sunshine — If you’re here for Kim Eun-sook’s writing specifically and want to see her at her tightest and most acclaimed.
- Uncontrollably Fond — For the Kim Woo-bin/Bae Suzy history that makes this reunion land the way it does.
Conclusion
“Genie, Make a Wish” is an ambitious, occasionally messy fantasy epic that leans hard on star power and spectacle to carry a story that doesn’t always know what it wants to be. When it works — the leads’ chemistry, the visual world-building, the quieter moral questions about human nature — it really works. When it doesn’t, the tonal whiplash and overstuffed mythology can test your patience. It’s not the writer’s tightest outing, but for fans of Kim Woo-bin and Suzy, or anyone craving a genre-bending supernatural romance with real visual ambition, it’s still worth the wish.