What Is the Story About?
Created by Haley Z. Boston and produced by the ‘Stranger Things’ fame, The Duffer Brothers, Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen is a horror miniseries led by Camila Morrone, who plays Rachel, a bride-to-be travelling to a remote, snowy cabin to marry her fiancé, Nicky (played by Adam DiMarco).
The psychological tension escalates as Rachel discovers a terrifying generational curse: if she fails to marry her true “soulmate” by sundown on her wedding day, she will bleed to death. If she abandons the wedding, the curse transfers to Nicky’s entire bloodline.
As the deadline nears, Rachel is plagued by paranoia, cryptic warnings from a mysterious “Witness,” and the unsettling behaviour of Nicky’s family. The series explores the visceral fear of commitment and the supernatural consequences of marrying the wrong person, culminating in a gory, high-stakes finale that questions the very nature of fate and love.
Performances?
Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen is definitely not without its flaws, but the leading duo, Camila Morrone and Adam DiMarco, do plenty of heavy lifting. Camila looks solid as Rachel. She moves away from her usual glam roles to play a bride who is basically a walking ball of nerves.
Morrone expertly maintains the “cool but stressed” vibe, using tiny details like a shaky hand or a desperate look to show she’s losing it. We really feel for her because she’s the only one who seems to realise how messed up the situation is, making her the perfect person to root for as she deals with that creepy “soulmate or death” curse.
DiMarco also looks strong and comfortable alongside Camila and stands out among a cast filled with veterans like Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ted Levine. He’s charming and sweet, but there’s this weirdly hollow energy to him that makes you wonder if he’s actually oblivious or secretly part of the nightmare.
One of the biggest positives of this series is the chemistry between Morrone and DiMarco. They actually feel like a real couple that’s been together for years. The conversations between them, particularly in the initial episodes, are natural and engaging.
Analysis
The story of Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen is basically about pre-wedding jitters that turn into a dangerous and haunting nightmare.
There’s no denying that the series has a unique and interesting premise, but it takes a bit too long, actually, to deal with it, as the first three episodes, while spooky and creepy enough, try too hard to capture and maintain our attention with just scares, performances, and atmosphere-building.
The narrative looks engaging, focusing on that wild generational curse where Rachel has to marry her “true soulmate” by sundown or, well, bleed out. It’s a genius way to explore the fear of commitment, making every “I do” feel like a life-or-death gamble. However, it’s the ending that will make you scratch your head.
The ending is a bit of a “love it or hate it” situation. Some will think it’s a brilliant twist on fate, while others might feel it leaves a few too many questions about how the curse actually works.
When it comes to pacing and direction, the show is a total roller coaster. The trio of Weronika Tofilska, Axelle Carolyn, and Lisa Brühlmann handle the show’s direction well. But Weronika’s episodes are clearly the best and most engaging, and are more tightly edited than the others.
The directors nail the slow-burning tension in the first few episodes, making the snowy, isolated cabin feel like a character itself. The series starts off feeling like a moody indie drama and then cranks the volume up to 11 as the wedding deadline approaches. The overall direction looks stylish and blends gothic elements well. Plus, we get some really cool shots.
The downside? The middle episodes can feel a little like they’re running in place just to stretch out the clock until the big finale, which might test your patience if you’re binging it all at once.
The dialogue is snappy, modern, and has that “dry wit” that makes the horror feel more grounded. However, some viewers may find the first four episodes a bit garrulous in terms of conversations. It’s like watching a horror series directed by fans of Quentin Tarantino.
The banter between Rachel and Nicky feels natural and grounded, but it’s the creepy stuff Nicky’s family says that makes the show’s tone even more hair-raising.
We also see plenty of instances where some characters repeat what has happened just a few moments earlier (CLASSIC NETFLIX MOVE!! IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW HARD YOU GUYS TRY TO DENY IT, YOU KNOW YOU DO IT!). Because of this, some of the cryptic warnings from side characters start to feel a bit repetitive and cheesy after a while.
Also, we cannot ignore the performances delivered by veterans Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ted Levine. If Camila and Adam are the heart of the show, then Leigh and Levine are definitely the creepy, beating soul of it. These two performers have a long history of playing unsettling, eerie, yet iconic characters, and they do their job pretty well here as well.
Leigh appears at just the right moments to keep us glued to our screens, and the makers have used her abilities brilliantly. Some of her long, intense scenes, with the way she delivers her lines, sweet but with a hint of threat, give us some serious chills.
Then you’ve got Ted Levine as the father, Boris. He’s much more withdrawn, playing a taxidermy enthusiast who doesn’t say much. But when he does, we listen! We’re constantly guessing whether he’s just a grumpy dad or the one pulling the strings behind the curse. Together, they make the Cunningham family feel like a trap that Rachel has walked right into, and they do it without even raising their voices.
Music and Other Departments?
The technical department of Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen looks pretty high-end, and proves that Netflix has spent plenty of money on this one.
The camerawork is stylish and engaging. We see some well-filmed long, one-take scenes with Rachel and the house in which she resides with the Cunningham family. We also see the usage of handheld cameras for that shaky, paranoid feeling, and even some naturalistic found-footage moments that make the horror feel raw.
Although the show’s cinematography is its biggest letdown. It becomes a bit too dark in some scenes. It has that “Netflix greige” colour palette that often washes out the details, making it hard to tell what’s actually happening during the nighttime forest scenes.
We get a highly intense and haunting score from Colin Stetson. Instead of cheap jump-scare noises, Stetson delivers a heavy, haunting and percussive score. The sound design is clever, it often drowns out characters’ voices or uses weird electric buzzes to mimic the feeling of a panic attack.
The “Cunningham Cabin” is basically a character of its own. It’s a massive, wealthy-looking mansion that feels like a maze of dark corridors and weird family shrines.
The production design inside the cabin looks fabulous. But the setting outside the cabin is so consistently bleak and snowy, the visual environment doesn’t change much throughout the eight episodes.
Other Artists?
Gus Birney is another big positive to come out of Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen from Netflix. She is a scene-stealer as Nicky’s younger sister, Portia. She is jumpy, mean, menacing, and sometimes, scarily eccentric enough, to keep the viewers on their toes. She’s got this high-pitched, bubbly voice that sounds sweet but feels totally daunting when the dread starts to kick in.
As Nicky’s older brother, Jules, Jeff Wilbusch brings a massive amount of intensity. He brings a sullen and jaded vibe to the character. Wilbusch is great at playing characters you can’t quite read. And he does the same here as well with perfection.
Karla Crome as Nell bestows an emotionally layered performance here. She plays someone who is caught between her loyalty to this weird family and her own survival instincts.
Zlatko Burić shows up as a mysterious, unnamed figure (called “The Witness”) who crosses paths with Rachel in some of the gripping scenes. Burić has this natural magnetism that adds a huge chill to the series. The rest of the cast looks solid and creepy enough.
Highlights?
Camila Morrone’s Range
Brilliant performances from Leigh and Levine
Technical Style
The “Slow-Burn” Dread
Drawbacks?
Way too many dimly lit scenes
Pacing lag
Divisive ending
Repetitive dialogues
Did I Enjoy It?
Liked the “goth-glam” tension and Camila Morrone’s grounded performance, which made the wild marry or die curse feel surprisingly relatable and high-stakes.
Will You Recommend It?
Watch it if you love stylish, psychological horror with a slow-burn vibe, though the dim cinematography can test your patience.
Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen Series Review by Binged Bureau