‘Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen’ (2026) Netflix Series Review - Vibes and Vows

Something bad does happen in Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, a horror-comedy drama from the mind of Haley Z. Boston. The eight-episode miniseries opens with a couple about to get married before jumping five days back in time to show the events leading up to the wedding. The couple are Rachel (Camila Morrone) and Nicky (Adam DiMarco), who drive to the latter's wealthy family home for their ceremony. But even before reaching the front door, Rachel experiences a sense of dread, heightened by the dark, ominous road and a creepy bar occupied only by an old man (Zlatko Burić) and a female bartender (Amy Keating). The former asks Rachel whether she is sure Nicky is "the one," but not before peeping on her in the bathroom. In a flashback presented through a video recording that takes us to 1997, we watch another man peeping on a woman in the bathroom. The only difference lies in tone—Rachel's scene feels chilling, while the earlier one plays almost cute.

Nonetheless, the point is that certain incidents in the show have a way of repeating themselves. Rachel overhears a conversation about a dead dog and later finds (or hallucinates) a dog's corpse in a toilet. A little boy asks for a video camera, and one episode unfolds through a man's camcorder footage. Rachel frequently says, with fear, that something very bad is going to happen, and another woman repeats the same words during a flashback. As a young boy, Jules (Jeff Wilbusch), Nicky's brother, encounters a serial killer known as Sorry Man; the episode eventually reveals itself fully and introduces a supernatural element into the story. Even before this revelation, SVBIGTH establishes an eerie atmosphere through low-lit imagery and a woozy POV lens—a device often used in horror flicks to signal the presence of a dangerous spirit.

With its blend of genres and moods, SVBIGTH moves through its scenes with less solemnity and more playfulness. Boston and her team clearly enjoy building peril and paranoia, energizing them with a camera that is sometimes kinetic, sometimes nocturnal, sometimes restlessly roving. You can almost hear them cackling when the characters decide to consult a Ouija board for marriage advice from a ghost. Even the central conceit is clever: find your soulmate and marry them, because a bad marriage equals a death sentence. SVBIGTH literalizes this notion with curses, blood, and potions, and the sound that seems to dominate every frame is not the screams of dying characters but the delighted laughter of filmmakers orchestrating events from behind the camera. Weronika Tofilska, who directed four episodes of Baby Reindeer, directs four episodes here as well, including the seventh and eighth installments, whose lively momentum recalls that acclaimed 2024 comedy-drama.

Yet by placing greater emphasis on stylistic embellishments, SVBIGTH sacrifices the inner lives of its characters. It fails to provide enough detail to elevate them beyond narrative puppets, creating a cool detachment between the series and the audience. The experience resembles a theme-park ride: pleasurable while it lasts, but leaving little residue after all eight episodes conclude. Even what remains turns hazy within hours. The show also neglects basic details. Why do neither Nicky nor Rachel appear to have close friends? Rachel seems to have only her father—did she not befriend anyone in college? Before Nicky, did she have anyone with whom she discussed her fears and aspirations? Did she have any ex-boyfriends? How did they respond to her ominous intuitions? Or was the first time she strongly felt that something bad was about to happen when she met Nicky at the airport?

SVBIGTH ultimately functions as a "vibe show." Tonal swings, a creepy atmosphere, and an overactive camera do the heavy lifting, dressing up a thin story that lacks sufficiently engaging ideas—or characters. By filtering the lead pair's history through the narrow lens of plot mechanics, the series gives itself license to reshape them according to narrative convenience. We never learn how this couple lived before the story begins, so the question of whether they are truly soulmates becomes little more than an excuse for Boston to go bonkers. She certainly takes viewers on a wild ride—one that, unfortunately, is not especially memorable.

Final Score- [5.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times