If Wishes Could Kill ending explained: Who created Girigo and was the curse really broken?

In Netflix's If Wishes Could Kill, the rules are simple: write down your saju – a traditional Korean fortune-telling system – and make a wish. Whether you want to pass that important exam, get a promotion at work or fall in love, anything is possible with Girigo.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, that’s because it is. Once the wish is granted, a 24-hour timer starts and the user dies upon expiry.

The eight-part series, which topped Netflix's non-English series chart and garnered 7.5 million views, follows students at Seorin High School as they find themselves in a fight for survival after discovering the mysterious Girigo app and attempt to break its deadly curse.

The protagonist Yoo Se-ah is introduced to the app by her friend Hyeon-wook. However, they realise its dangers when his wish for a perfect score in his maths test is granted before he subsequently slits his own throat in class.

While there was a danger in the first two episodes that If Wishes Could Kill would be identical to countless other horror series, following a similar formula to Countdown or One Missed Call, it gradually came into its own. Through its blending of modern technology with traditional belief systems, such as shamanism and the occult, it delivers something fresh and exciting as it hurtles towards its gripping climax So, who created Girigo and was the curse really broken?

Read on for a full breakdown of If Wishes Could Kill's ending.

If Wishes Could Kill ending explained

Girigo is a Jugu - a conduit for demonic curses. Essentially, it is a shape-shifter that uses anything capable of capturing someone’s thoughts, such as letters or social media and weaponises it to unleash a curse.

After being possessed by the spirits, the wish-makers are taken into a demonic spiritual dimension. In a shamanistic version of Dante’s Inferno, the protagonist is guided through levels of terror and hellish visions by Haetsal - Kang Ha-joon’s estranged sister.

The mysterious origins of the fatal app are revealed during a flashback episode, which takes us back to 2005.

The episode centres around two friends, Do Hye-ryung and Kwon Si-won. The latter is the daughter of a town drunk who is also a "whack job shaman murderer". She is ashamed of her mother and does not believe in the powers of shamanism. Conversely, Hye-ryung is fascinated by the belief system and wants to learn more. This is a bone of contention in their friendship as Si-won resents her mother and demands that Hye-ryung stay away from her.

After school, Si-won enrolled in a coding class and was tasked with designing an app for a contest. Whilst discussing shamanism, the boys in the group suggest making an app which can grant wishes, Girigo.

Testing the app out with Hye-ryung, she confesses her love for her classmate and is recorded wishing that he’ll fall in love with her back. This video is used to humiliate the student when Si-won believed that Hye-ryung betrayed her trust, as she found her indulgence in the ‘madness’ of her mother and learning shamanism and curses from her.

After being driven to the point of no return, Hye-ryung records herself saying, “My wish is for you all to die”, before slitting her own throat. Si-won makes her own wish that Hye-ryung’s curse shall last forever and unleashes a demonic spirit.

It is revealed that the key to breaking the curse is by destroying the 'red phone' – the phone in which the original wish was made.

When trying to find and destroy the ‘red phone’, which was initially believed to be Hye-ryung, Se-ah is confronted by Na-ri, who is possessed by the spirit of Si-won.

Even after Na-ri was freed from the spirit, she sought vengeance on Se-ah and attempted to kill her for being a ‘backstabbing b**ch’ and falling in love with Geon-woo, despite knowing how she felt about him.

It was interesting to see this unfold as it became unclear whether Na-ri was still under the possessive spell of Si-won or whether she was truly freed from the demonic spirit and was carrying out these violent acts of her own free will.

During her attack, Na-ri breaks a bracelet off Se-ah’s hand, which binds her to Haetsal and protects her from demonic spirits. Therefore, she was sent into the spirit world.

Se-ah and Haetsal discover that the 'red phone' actually belonged to Si-won as she unleashed the original curse and had to find it in the spirit world. After killing Na-ri, who had attempted to kill her, Se-ah destroyed the phone and lifted the curse.

Will there be another season of If Wishes Could Kill?

Having seemingly broken the curse, the surviving members hold a memorial service for Hyeong-wook inside Haetsal's compound, where she is trapped as she is possessed by spirits that are draining her shamanistic powers.

After surviving being impaled by a metal spike, Bangwool promises to set Haetsal free with his newfound spiritual powers, which he believed were temporary after his eye was removed. However, in the final scene of the series, his eye has grown back with the same mystical powers.

In a post-credit scene, Min-su, the Discord friend who introduces Girigo to Hyeong-wook, searches for Na-ri’s phone. Upon finding the phone, he alerts an anonymous account on Discord with the username ‘050201’ - Kwon Si-won's birthday - who promises to reveal how Choi Hyeong-wook died.

It is possible that the anonymous account is Na-ri, as her whereabouts or fate were never confirmed. Her desk was empty at school, but the group did not hold a memorial service at the compound for her alongside Hyeong-wook, suggesting that she could still on the loose.

If Wishes Could Kill streams on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Add If Wishes Could Kill to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.