‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’ review: Emphasis on till death do us part

With the release of the horror miniseries Something Very Bad is Going to Happen and the Zendaya-led film The Drama in the same year, toxic romantic relationships are back. Bad marriage for life, baby! While it’s nice to watch two soul mates yearn and pine for each other like in Bridgerton, sometimes a girl just wants to indulge in some hot premium mess. Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen delivers drama, jump scares, and suspense all at once.

Created by Haley Z. Boston and produced by the Duffer Brothers (of Stranger Things fame), the horror series takes the concept of a soulmate to its darkest, most tantalizing extreme. The series will keep you on the edge of your seat with its consistently dark, dreadful tone, compelling characters, and outstanding performance from its lead scream queen. However, there are times when the show drags a little too long, particularly in the middle. 

In Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, engaged couple Rachel (Camila Morrone) and Nicky (Adam DiMarco) head to a vacation cabin in the woods for their upcoming nuptials. With only five days between saying, “I do,” Rachel and Nicky use their time on the road to listen to murder-mystery podcasts, sing cheesy songs, and talk about their future children. However, once they enter the small secluded town, the couple’s idyllic life turns sideways.

Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen instills an ominous, anxiety-ridden tone from beginning to end.

After finding an abandoned baby in a car, Rachel seeks help at a dive bar but instead has a chance encounter with a mysterious man known as The Witness (Zlatko Buric). Tall and domineering, this man asks Rachel point-blank, “Are you sure he’s the one?” Though Rachel tries to put the weird encounter behind her, she begins to receive ominous signs that her relationship with Nicky and his family may not be what it seems. From scary bedtime stories about psychotic bride killers to unexplained nose bleeds, the poor bride-to-be begins to wonder if she’ll make it down the aisle — alive.

One of the elements Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen gets right is its ominous, dark tone, which remains consistent throughout the series. You know something horrific will happen to Rachel and Nicky as soon as they enter the small, secluded town in Episode 1’s “Never Get on One Knee.” Instead of a wholesome little town full of whimsical characters and quirky local shops, the nameless town is full of gruesome local legends. Signs of death and decay are everywhere, including, but not limited to, the rotting fox carcasses that appear without warning.

Even the Cunninghams’ vacation cabin, which Nicky’s family owns, is anything but cozy. When Nicky gives Rachel a tour of his family’s cabin, one of the first things she sees is a portrait of the Cunninghams flanked by two stuffed taxidermy dogs. Though the painting and the animals represent the family’s exorbitant wealth, it also highlights the unsettling environment in which Rachel places herself. 

Rachel can’t escape the influence of the Cunninghams.

The Cunninghams are creepy and kooky, but not in a wholesome The Addams Family sort of way. If anything, they’re just as unhinged as the family from The Fall of the House of Usher. Similar to the Netflix miniseries, Boston and her team of writers excel at giving each family member distinct personalities and quirks.

Oldest bro Jules (Jeff Wilbusch) is deeply traumatized by his childhood. Youngest sister Portia (Gus Birney) is passive-aggressive and a little bit twitchy. Their father, Boris (Ted Levine), ignores his family’s problems while he constructs taxidermied animals and digs graves.

Matriarch Victoria (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is so obsessed with turning Rachel into the next Mrs. Cunningham that she forces the bride to wear her wedding dress. Heck, even Jule’s son from his first wife, Jude (Sawyer Fraser), is hiding something. The only person who is sympathetic to Rachel’s plight is Jule’s wife, Nell (played with aplomb by Karla Crome), and she has her own interior motives. 

Despite the metaphorical stranglehold the Cunninghams have over Rachel, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen does not present the scream queen as a passive character. Instead of waiting for Nicky to save her (who’s useless), the horror heroine goes out of her way to solve her problems. Whether it’s staging an emergency family therapy session in the middle of the night or conducting a seance during her bachelorette party to find out more about her dark family history, Rachel is not afraid to take control of her destiny. 

Camila Morrone makes for an excellent Scream Queen in the horror series.

And Morrone plays the protagonist spectacularly. You can tell she knows the character inside and out, particularly in Episode 5’s “I Think You Just Saved My Life.” During it, Rachel recalls her first meeting with Nicky at an airport three years prior. As the future Mrs. Cunningham goes over every detail of her meet-cute, you can tell she makes the story sound more romantic than it actually is.

Every smile, chuckle, and glance at Nicky that Rachel presents to her listeners is flawless. Not only is she lying to her captivated audience about her chance encounter with Nicky, but she is also lying to herself.  Deep down, she is hesitant about her relationship with her fiancé, and she’s afraid to admit the truth.

The bottom line.

Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is a well-crafted horror miniseries. Certainly, there are times the show drags, specifically when Rachel becomes paranoid about Nicky’s family. And the story doesn’t pick up until Rachel finally figures out what is going on. If anything, a small part of me wonders whether the show could have been a film instead to cut down on some unnecessary filler. Yet, for all my misgivings, Boston does an excellent job at examining what happens when you don’t pick the right romantic partner. Sometimes, it can lead to deadly results.

Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is available now on Netflix. Watch the trailer below. 

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Images courtesy of Netflix.