Reviews
‘Something Very Bad is Going to Happen’ Turns Marriage Into a Brutal, Bewildering Blood Pact [Review]
Marriage is supposed to be one of the happiest moments in a person’s life. It’s the ultimate trust exercise and a true union between not just two lives, but full family trees that become intertwined into a shared existence. Marriage can be the truest expression of love.
It also represents the apex of vulnerability. This couple must bear their souls – fully and completely – and decide if this is what they want the rest of their life to look like. It’s a beautiful exercise, albeit one that can also exacerbate the cracks in a relationship so that romantic love and devotion congeal into annoyance and obligation. Marriage sits at the crossroads of renewal and destruction, which is why this emotionally heightened milestone is such fitting territory to explore in horror.
Marriage is a lovely tradition, but it’s also a custom that has an inherent darkness that’s baked into the pomp and circumstance, as death and eternity are echoed through commitment vows. Netflix’s Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is far from the first horror story that tackles marriage. However, Haley Z. Boston (Brand New Cherry Flavor) attempts to turn this series into a definitive deconstruction of marriage’s potential toxicity from the female perspective. It’s a horror text that’s thematically at peace with Carrie’s approach to maturing womanhood and Rosemary’s Baby’s take on motherhood.
Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. (L to R) Camila Morrone as Rachel Harkin, Adam DiMarco as Nicky Cunningham in episode 105 of Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
The series keys into that magical period when you’re planning your future with someone, and anything feels possible, yet these inviting dreams can easily transform into nightmares. It’s a dark story that ripples between generations and argues that life can be full of cyclical patterns that are bigger than us and inescapable. A sinister karmic undertow threatens to sentence this bride and groom to cosmic doom. It toes the line between cathartic character drama and surreal occult horror story. It’s Netflix’s best horror series of 2026 and a title that’s as fascinating as it is frightening.
It’s clear from the title alone that there’s going to be carnage in Something Very Bad is Going to Happen. However, the fact that it culminates in a bloodbath isn’t what’s shocking here. It’s the explanation behind this massacre that’s sure to unsettle the audience. The series builds up to Rachel (Camila Morrone) and Nicky’s (Adam DiMarco) impending wedding, when an unexpected tragedy threatens to throw these plans off kilter. This emotional stressor soon feels like the least of everybody’s problems as looming nuptial obligations mix with past family trauma and the potential summoning of a supernatural scourge.
Something Very Bad is Going to Happen crafts an effective formula where mundane wedding tasks overlap with dark, disturbing horrors. There’s such a clear, distinct voice on display from creator and showrunner, Haley Z. Boston. It functions like an evolution of Brand New Cherry Flavor’s intimate, female-driven anxieties, but mixed together with a touch of Ready or Not‘s social hierarchical storytelling.
Simple stylized details, like a POV shot from Rachel’s perspective that’s obscured through the gauzy fabric of a wedding veil, make sure that innocuous moments are visually profound and resonant. These heightened touches also condition the audience to understand that this is not your average newlywed horror story. Kinetic, intuitive editing helps reflect Rachel’s frayed mental state.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. Jennifer Jason Leigh as Victoria in episode 102 of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
There’s a very magpie-like quality to the series as it pieces together dark stories from random sources that all come together and contribute to this grander collage of trauma. Right from the start, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is presented as a haunted world in which sweet anecdotes are filtered through depraved darkness. An aside about ice cream turns into a digression about serial killers. Killer needle drops recontextualize romantic love songs into melancholy portents of doom. It’s a potent point of view that vacillates between extremes in this fragile world that’s one crack away from shattering into pieces. A free-floating feeling of deception lingers through the series and makes it impossible to trust anything. It’s almost as if Rachel’s toxic thought process and anxiety are in control of the camera and editing.
Rachel and Nicky’s evolving relationship is the series’ most gripping dynamic. There’s such comfortable chemistry between these two that feeds into the odd – and sometimes even perverse – traditions that we do for our spouses in order to accommodate them and achieve a happy marriage. Everyone is keyed in with their performances to achieve the right tone. However, Camila Morrone really steals the show as Rachel. So much of the series rests on Morrone’s performance, and she absolutely rises to the occasion. She delivers such captivating, layered work that channels extreme emotions as the universe puts her through the wringer.
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. Camila Morrone as Rachel Harkin in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
Something Very Bad is Going to Happen isn’t afraid to get lost in thematic detours, but it still makes sure that the scares actually deliver. There’s a mounting dread that crescendos over these eight episodes that does something original and doesn’t just rely upon tired jump scares. There are so many uncomfortable and disturbing visuals that will leave the audience feeling haunted. Creative, natural use of found-footage camcorder aesthetics also amplifies certain moments. There’s one flashback episode that relies on this device that could easily be a standout V/H/S franchise segment.
So much of Something Very Bad is Going to Happen’s success boils down to its ending. This is a structure that often seems set up to fail, but Something Very Bad is Going to Happen both sticks the landing and defies expectations. It provides answers and finality over arbitrary twists and hollow setups. Something Very Bad is Going to Happen achieves a chaotic, claustrophobic quality that capitulates over its final episodes. It’s full of unnerving moments that play with the audience’s perception, all while it tells a story that’s surprisingly inspirational. It’s a touching, terrifying story that preaches the virtues of soulmates and whether love is enough to overpower death.
All eight episodes of Something Very Bad is Going to Happen are now streaming on Netflix.
The problem with parodies is that there’s an extremely fine line between precise mockery and simply creating a genuine example of what was being made fun of in the first place. That’s why the best kind of cinematic satire comes from a place of love, as unironic appreciation for the material being parodied means that you’re still left with something fun to watch even when the humor fails.
I was reminded of this while watching I Hate Found Footage, the latest horror comedy by Michael Rock, director of the Tahoe Joe trilogy and founding member of Horror Dadz Productions. This cheekily titled parody has just been released on Found TV as one of the budding streamer’s first exclusive productions, and while I commend the folks at FTV for enlisting a found footage veteran to help popularize their fan-funded platform, the ensuing product might just be a little too accurate for its own good.
Taking inspiration from classic Muppets spoofs as well as a lifetime of experience with some of the best and worst that found footage movies have to offer, I Hate Found Footage may not be the very first comedy to poke fun at the FF genre, but it’s certainly the first one to feature colorful puppets as the protagonists.
In this decidedly meta experience, we follow Eddie Blake and Michael Rock himself as Ollie and Filbert – a duo of talkative hand puppets who embark on a quest to shoot a no-budget found footage movie in the middle of the Nevada wilderness. Unfortunately for the budding filmmakers, their cameras end up picking up much more than they bargained for when their impromptu monster movie accidentally puts them in the path of a masked gang of ritualistic murderers.
What follows is a self-conscious comedy of errors poking fun at all of the most hated and some of the most beloved tropes that the found footage genre has to offer. Ollie and Filbert frequently interrupt their terrifying POV misadventure with jabs at common faux pas like their own inability to stop filming even under risk of death, as well as multiple instances of puppet-based physical humor.
In general, this is far from a bad premise. The kid-friendly puppetry might be a bit jarring during the first few minutes as you get used to seeing this playful duo interact with the gritty real world, but there’s an undeniable charm to the way that these unorthodox characters record ironic versions of the familiar exposition dumps and ominous testimonials that we’re so used to seeing in “serious” found footage flicks.
Unfortunately, Rock is so dedicated to recreating an authentically terrible found footage production that the finished film often feels more like a failed attempt at an earnest project than an enjoyable parody. Sure, the copious amount of jokes and the fact that our leads are played by fluffy masses of felt should indicate that the film isn’t meant to be taken seriously, but pointing out how amateur found footage productions suffer from long stretches of dead air and unnecessary build-up is only funny until the movie becomes the very thing it’s supposed to be criticizing.
I get that having Ollie and Filbert’s ill-advised cinematic endeavor be a laughably bad movie is itself part of the joke, but unlike similar genre parodies in the vein of Ed Wood or even stuff like Sharknado and Velocipastor, which benefit from the fun parts of traditionally “bad” horror filmmaking, I Hate Found Footage has to contend with the fact that poorly-made found footage tends to be more boring than ridiculous.
That’s not to say that there’s no enjoyment to be found here, as I especially appreciate absurdist jokes like when the characters encounter the murdered “corpse” of another hand-puppet, and his full skeleton only consists of a bloodied arm. Or even the ridiculous scene where the duo attempts to simulate a jump scare for their monster movie using embarrassing levels of puppet-on-puppet effects work. But it’s a shame that these elements are shackled to excruciatingly long, though admittedly beautiful, shots of the Nevada setting.
That being said, regardless of certain stilted/unfunny line deliveries and the painfully slow build-up that doesn’t really lead to a horrific finale, Rock is still a skilled enough filmmaker to know that this kind of comedic experience works best in short bursts. That’s why the hour-long runtime comes as a blessing even if it also serves as an example of why the flick would probably have been better off as a short film. As it stands, however, I’d argue that it’s still worth suffering through some of the flick’s cringy moments in order to get to the good stuff.
Ironically enough, I Hate Found Footage will probably only entertain veterans who are already more inclined to forgive the genre’s common pitfalls and recurring tropes. After all, the production was clearly helmed by a team with a deep knowledge of how these movies work and what fans expect to see when they press play on a low-budget POV adventure. While I still think there’s only enough humor and story here to sustain a half-hour-long short, I’d still recommend this feature to die-hard fans who enjoy a healthy dose of silliness alongside their POV scares.
I Hate Found Footage is now streaming on Found TV.
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