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Something Very Bad is Going to Happen had me at hello. With an ominous title like that, how could I resist diving straight in and binge-watching the new Netflix show?
While it’s a great title, it also basically gives away the plot, which means that when the titular bad thing does happen, it better be worth it.
The Cunningham family gather together before Adam and Rachel get married. (Image credit: Netflix)
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My favorite horror movie of all time is The Silence of the Lambs, so seeing Ted Levine in the cast as Adam’s father was great. Additionally, The Haunting of Hill House‘s Victoria Pedretti stars in an important role (you will find out who she is, don’t worry!), so there’s plenty for horror fans to enjoy star-wise.
The rest of the cast is great, too, and the ensemble creates this difficult family dynamic where Rachel questions whether she is really supposed to marry into this family. The Cunninghams are well off, Rachel comes from a different background, and plenty of the usual pre-marital anxieties arise.
But there’s something deeply wrong here. Over the course of the five days before the wedding, Rachel witnesses some very disturbing things. Bad omens seem to be everywhere, and what should be an exciting time turns into one that’s filled with dread.
Not just for Rachel, but for us as the viewers, too, as I found myself feeling very uncomfortable when watching this. And when you’re discussing horror, that’s like the highest praise you can give.
Tension and unease are at the heart of Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, and you can expect unsettling visuals, plenty of blood and disturbing scenes, found-footage style framing that puts you right in the center of it, and yes, a couple of decently executed scares too. It has all the right ingredients for a tense horror that creeps along towards a horrific finale.
This is where things will no doubt divide viewers. After such a slow burn, the finale may not satisfy everyone. But it is the biggest, bloodiest episode of them all, so it certainly makes a statement, helped by some excellent special effects and a creepy score.
Something Very Bad is Going to Happen ultimately plays on our real-life anxieties of fitting in, big decisions like marriage and a family, and worries around our own identities. Despite the supernatural elements, at its core, it can feel very relatable at times.
But that’s what well-written horror does, and I was happy to experience it, even if I do need to go and watch something more lighthearted now.
