Miniseries – 8 Episodes (50 minutes), 6.30 hours overall – Dark Comedy/Mystery
No matter what your opinion is about this show, you have to admit one thing. That title is fucking exquisite. It perfectly describes the mood they were going for, and it’s quite memorable too. What’s that show we watched last night, oh yeah, it’s… So, what do we have here? Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is the new Netflix dark comedy with strong mystery, modern gothic, and supernatural motives. It follows Rachel, a quirky young woman who’s about to marry the love of her life, Nicky. The wedding is in just a week, following a whirlwind romance. During those seven days, she will get to know his side of the family for the first time.
And, also during those seven days, Rachel will consistently keep seeing, hearing, and feeling red flags telling her that… You guessed it, something very bad is going to happen. Straight away, you should just shelve the fact that the Duffer Brothers, of their Stranger Things fame, are the executive producers. This show has almost nothing to do with that one, and I’m guessing this is just a marketing trick. Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is written by Haley Z. Boston and features three excellent directors, Weronika Tofilska, Axelle Carolyn, and Lisa Brühlmann. This all-female wrecking crew did a fantastic job. The production values are excellent, along with the cinematography.
Pay extra careful attention to the lighting that was fucking perfect. And a stark contrast to that shiny look most modern shows go for. The mood is positively ominous. Perhaps even so ominous that you’re already bracing yourself for the worst possible thing to happen to cushion the incoming blow. This takes away a lot of the tension and turns the show toward farce, but of the good kind. While the first act is strong, the middle one is quite wobbly and meandering (dress fitting, stick figure…). The show returns in full force for the final and third act. Granted, we’ll get a couple of exposition dumps, cliches, and convenient twists, but at least all that chaos was somewhat entertaining.
If I had to compare this show to something, I would say it’s a blend between American Horror Story, Ready or Not, and Get Out. However, the four big Netflix shows are also worth mentioning: The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Midnight Mass. The task at hand was a tricky one as the atmosphere, script, performances, and direction all had to gel together strongly for the whole thing to work. Take, for example, the character of Portia, played masterfully by charismatic Gus Birney. If she downplayed her character to a more “realistic” rendition, it would be cringy.
If, on the other hand, she was too quirky and “unrealistic”, it would be, again, cringey. Although she looked absolutely stunning in that dress at the wedding. Or, take the fact that Rachel is a stoner, lighting up every chance she gets. At first glance, this might seem like a commercial/algorithmic decision to make the character more relatable, funny, and quirky. However, it turns out that Rachel is just a stoner. She getting high doesn’t influence events and characters one way or the other, nor does it go beyond the thing itself. You would think that this precisely (sniff, sniff, I am a pessimist, sniff, sniff) proves the “commercially algorithmic” theory, but it actually does the opposite.
So, the entire show had to constantly walk this tightrope to maintain momentum. Luckily, the first episodes were intriguing enough to keep you watching and wanting more. In the end, I personally would trim two episodes and keep things nice and tight. Still, as it is, Something Very Bad is Going to Happen is a fun binger you’re going to enjoy. I know that the word horror is plastered all over it, but I think this is not a real horror show. It firmly belongs to the supernatural and mystery genres with very little gore and explicit content. The main themes explored are relationships, marriage, family, and the concept of a soulmate.
We find ourselves again in a very familiar “bride getting to know the husband’s crazy family” territory. However, I didn’t find it repetitive or boring; on the contrary. Even though we’re, yet again, following another family of rich fucks living in a luxurious mansion. We even get hints of a Spanish soap opera along with “the rich also cry,” but luckily, they’re not so self-conscious to realize that. Camila Morrone, who plays Rachel, stole the show here with her fantastic performance. And she’s prettier than both Anne Hathaway and Dua Lipa. For a moment there, I thought that Rachel had a Tottenham Hotspur tattoo on her hand, but it turned out to be just some bird.
Adam DiMarco was okay, probably the only guy in the world who looks worse with facial hair. He reminded me of the cocaine guy from Superbad. Jeff Wilbusch was excellent as Jules while I almost didn’t recognize Jennifer Jason Leigh after all the surgeries. I also want to mention the imposing presence of the legend that is Zlatko Buric, who plays The Witness. I’ll always remember his performance in Pusher. Whoa, I guess I managed to finish talking about Something Very Bad is Going to Happen without mentioning wedding jitters once. Ahhh fuck.
Directors: Weronika Tofilska, Axelle Carolyn, and Lisa Brühlmann
Writers: Haley Z. Boston, Ben Bolea, Alana B. Lytle, Alex Delyle, Kate Trefry, Isaac Sims
Cast: Camila Morrone, Adam DiMarco, Gus Birney, Karla Crome, Jeff Wilbusch, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Fun Facts: The giant dogs in the Harkin household are Irish Wolfhounds. They are huge reaching between 28 (71 cm) and 35 (89 cm) inches in height and weighing 120-140 lbs (54-64 kg).
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32937780/
