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.
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.
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 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.
