From Midnight Mass and Archive 81 to the standout The Haunting of Hill House, Netflix has delivered several strong horror series over the years. Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is its latest entry into the genre. While it does not reach the level of the platform’s top offerings, it remains a dark and foreboding exploration of marriage and love, with several compelling twists, even if not all elements succeed. Although the series can feel overly long for what is at times a needlessly complex story, it still offers enough substance for horror fans to stay engaged through its violent and unsettling conclusion.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is, at its core, a story about love, marriage and learning the full truth about the people you choose to spend your life with. The series follows Rachel (Camila Morrone) in the week leading up to her wedding to Nicky (Adam DiMarco), as they prepare to join his family at their home and begin their life together. Of course, nothing is ever simple, and Rachel exists in a constant state of anxiety, convinced something terrible is about to happen, even if she cannot define what. The series unfolds day by day, leading up to the wedding.
The setup for Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is effective, tapping into common anxieties about marriage, joining a new family and questioning how well you truly know your partner. It also leans into the persistent fear that life as you know it could suddenly unravel. The series takes a familiar concept often explored in romantic comedies and reshapes it into something far more unsettling, and that aspect works well.
Creator and showrunner Haley Z. Boston establishes the world, characters and eerie tone with confidence. From the outset, the family home feels deeply unwelcoming. Its layout creates unease, offering little sense of structure or comfort. While the characters treat it as home, it never feels like a place that invites warmth or familiarity.
This unease extends to the characters themselves. Each one carries secrets, personal baggage and unclear motives, which helps build tension and sets the stage for increasingly unsettling events. Like many slow-burning series, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen gradually reveals its central horror, showing how even something as ordinary as meeting future in-laws can feel deeply unnatural and distressing, with the tension continuing to build from there.
All of the actors fully commit to their roles, helping draw the audience into Rachel’s perspective as she navigates her life leading up to the wedding day. As the series counts down the days and events build toward a crescendo, the family’s many secrets are revealed. This not only adds depth to each character in the twisted world Rachel inhabits, but also strips away the bravado and masks they wear, exposing the truth behind their outward appearances.
“The setup for Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is effective, tapping into common anxieties…”
The production design in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen stands out. The series captures an unsettling version of Americana in a way that feels unexpected and effective. From the beginning, locations are presented as oppressive, empty and suffocating, reinforcing Rachel’s anxiety through visual storytelling. Whether it is the deserted roads the couple travels during their road trip, an isolated rest stop with a single abandoned vehicle, or the nearly empty bar early in the first episode, the series creates a world that feels unwelcoming and hostile.
There is a great deal to appreciate in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, and it succeeds in bringing this unsettling story to life with strong visual detail. However, if this were a tightly structured two-hour story, it would be easier to recommend without hesitation. At eight episodes and nearly eight hours in length, the narrative feels overly complex and unnecessarily extended.
I appreciate a slow buildup, with a gradual reveal of secrets, but there is too much excess in this story that could have been trimmed. Several plot threads, while delivering shocking moments, feel more like padding than meaningful contributions to the overall narrative. A well-executed fake-out can be effective, but when they continue for several episodes, it begins to feel as though some of the viewer’s time is being wasted. This does not detract from the unique story at the core of the series, but it makes engaging with that story more tedious than necessary.
Despite these concerns, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is worth watching. Camila Morrone delivers a compelling performance, bringing raw, anxiety-filled emotion to the screen in a captivating way. While the series could benefit from tighter pacing, it still offers striking visuals, a dark supernatural narrative and several memorable moments. It may not reach the heights of the best Netflix horror series, but Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen remains a worthwhile journey for fans of the genre.
