When viewers start Netflix’s new series, “Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen,” they know that catastrophe is on the horizon. What they don’t know is that they are in for a horror show that is meticulously cinematic and brimming with symbolism.
Created by Haley Z. Boston and executive produced by the Duffer brothers of “Stranger Things” fame, the show centers around Rachel Harkin (Camila Morrone) as she travels with her fiancé Nicky Cunningham (Adam DiMarco) to his family’s secluded — and extremely grand — family home in the woods. From the very beginning, Rachel is enigmatic, something viewers later learn is intentional, and Morrone handles the challenging role so adeptly that viewers forget she’s even acting.
Many horror films and shows prioritize jumpscares and gore over character development, but “Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen” does not fall into that category. Even though the show includes some supernatural elements, its realistic elements are at the root of its horror. Rachel’s anxiety-induced paranoia, which is only exacerbated by the amount of weed she smokes, is chillingly realistic.
From the show’s outset, it is immediately evident that something isn’t right. As wedding preparations ramp up, Nicky’s siblings — Portia (Gus Birney) and Jules Cunningham (Jeff Wilbusch) — make vague, creepy attempts at welcoming Rachel into their family, like telling her stories about the looming “Sorry Man,” a mysterious figure who is drawn to blood. As Rachel’s paranoia rightfully grows, viewers spiral with her, speculating what very bad thing will inevitably happen and when.
This is a show that viewers could watch over and over and still pick up on a new detail with each rewatch. The constant foreshadowing — like the bloody, pregnant fox Rachel finds in a toilet at an abandoned rest stop — is so subtle that it’s not noticeable until it’s too late.
In a Netflix interview with the show’s creator, Boston said she loves horror because it is a way to process her emotions and grapple with her understanding of the world. “I think horror allows you to explore taboo feelings and take all of these fears and give them some bite,” she said.
Each actor is spectacularly cast, and the cool, intimidating nature of Nell Cunningham (Karla Crome) — Jules’s second wife and Nicky’s ex-girlfriend — provides a refreshing balance to Portia’s manic character. Portia intensely focuses most, if not all, of her energy on the wedding, and it seems like she’s constantly on the edge of a nervous breakdown as everything with the wedding goes wrong.
The show takes pre-wedding jitters to the next level as Rachel attempts to determine whether the man she is bound to marry is truly her soulmate. If he isn’t, and she does marry him, she will die the same gruesome death as her mother. But if she calls off the wedding after the engagement, she will pass the curse that has plagued her family for generations to Nicky’s entire bloodline.
At eight episodes, the show starts to feel like it’s dragging on too long toward the end of the series. While Rachel’s brief foray into lesbianism is certainly entertaining, it feels more like a last-minute decision than something that was thought through ahead of time.
In addition to being an artful foray into horror, the show encourages viewers to think about love and relationships, forcing one to reflect on the concept of soulmates, destiny and one’s role in shaping their own fate.
Talia LeVine is a section editor covering arts and culture. They study Political Science and Visual Art with a focus on photography. In their free time, they can be found drinking copious amounts of coffee.
