Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen Is Not Lying
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen Frightens
Let it be known that any and all praise I have for Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is negated if it turns out that the main couple was dead all along. The first episode has a scene where they almost hit a school bus (going easily 50+ mph) and then the main character comes across an ice cream place where the broken sign spells out DIES. This show plays with so many disliked horror tropes, from dead dogs (including seeing one skinned) to repeated horror fake outs to aggressively telegraphed jump scares and still manages to be engaging and even genuinely scary, but there are limits, and that annoying of a twist would totally break the spell. I only watched three episodes, and doing so gave me a pretty solid vibe of what Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is like, but it’s also got trickery in its bones, so I feel I must warn you about as much as I can without complete spoilers.
The Series Love Putting In Constant Forshadowing
If one does decide to watch it, despite all that, the main draw of the series is both in its first minutes and in the title itself. It’s almost annoying how blatantly technical the trick is (as in, any writing class would cover it under suspense), but starting the show with the ending, and hinting at that ending with the title, leaves audiences with almost no choice but to be curious. Something very bad is indeed going to happen. After the big wedding the whole show is about and literally counting down toward, there’s going to be quite a lot of blood spilled and a lot of screaming. The implication I got was a slaughter, but as the show goes on, it’s difficult to be sure what all of those people are screaming about specifically.
Specificity is actually not something Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen wants to deal with. Not yet anyway. Every character is hiding something, and so many scenes feel like we’re simply not being let in on a joke or a tragedy. It’s occasionally a little agitating, but it’s mostly unmooring and induced weird emotions in me. I want to call what I felt dread—but the main character’s reactions (though she is under the influence of presumably marijuana) don’t always communicate that’s what we should think of scenes. It wanders through dreamlike conversations and moments where anyone is possibly hostile, but the trigger for that violence is unknowable and possibly random.
The Realistic Reactions Become Almost Shocking
The story won’t even confirm is there’s a real villain or not. I kind of hated that they used up so much tension by the end of episode two, but the show does start ratcheting it back up again through classic “camera eye” monster perspectives. I really thought I was tired of villains called The Blank Man, but “The Sorry Man” works as a lingering threat because of how dangerous even a normal man would be in this isolated, snowy, literally twisty environment, and how Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen doesn’t give us solid rules or answers about it.
It’s Unclear If Events Happening Are Supernatural
All of this only works, by the way, because the show has amazing actors, settings, and camera work. Yes, everyone is acting aloof and strange, but it doesn’t come off as cheesy—and they float through this roundabout house of weirdness like ghosts because of the commitment to everything being uncanny. I have no idea if the house was built or found for Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, but someone should get an award. It’s got so much enigmatic personality. It’s basically a circle of sharp corners and long hallways with rooms that connect in ways that don’t always make sense, and during the night, it’s shockingly dark. The camera only needs to linger on the open-yet-enclosed spaces to make you wonder what could possibly be nearby. It perfectly evokes that childhood (and let’s be honest, often adulthood) fear of walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I want to visit that house; I never want to go into a house like that.
I wish I could conclude with a recommendation or not, but Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen gave no such conclusion. And not just because I fear that twist I mentioned undermining the whole thing. I’ve given you a breakdown of its good and its bad, and both contain nuggets that usually determine someone’s watching decisions without outside interference. You might not want to see a ton of animal corpses in your shows. You may want a show with a very surreal tone. Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is the kind of series that quickly filters until it’s got its fanbase. You likely already know where you fit.
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