‘Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen’: The Duffer Brothers Give Weddings a Nosebleed in Horror Miniseries

Tony Sokol

Wedding day jitters are absolutely warranted in “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen.” The Duffer Brothers first Netflix project since “Stranger Things” is a deep dive into the third ring of marriage: suffering. Offbeat and increasingly grim, the matrimonial horror story, based on a novel by Australian writer Jessie Stephens, is an anxiety-inducing slip down an aisle.  

The eight-episode miniseries opens four days before the wedding of Nicky Cunningham (Adam DiMarco) and Rachel Harkin (Camila Morrone), and objections proceed in earnest. Their car swerves to miss a bus because the bride-to-be can barely keep her eyes open. The imminent groom keeps her alert with the gruesome story of a local murderer, quite notorious in the idyllic spot looming as the chosen location for their intimate wedding. They also encounter an abandoned baby and wound a mysterious figure (Zlatko Burić) on the late night drive. The impending doom is not encroaching. Cleverly skewered camerawork, and abstract editing, make it immediate, and immersive. The atmospheric reality is perceptibly disjointed.

The central couple appears to be happy. Joking and laughing, they enthusiastically film the excitement over the coming event to be held in the Cunningham family’s palatial vacation cabin, buried deep in the woods. The illusion cracks on a family portrait with an empty chair waiting for Rachel to be painted on, and ex-wives painted over. It is guarded by stuffed family dogs. Nicky warns Rachel not to look them in the eye, and covers his own eyes walking past. Rachel, whose mother died before she knew her, has been looking for a normal family. This does not appear to be it.

The esteemed Cunninghams are not a welcoming bunch. The patriarch, Dr. Boris Cunningham (Ted Levine), holds steadfast beliefs about marriage, honor, and secrecy. He barely registers Rachel until an embarrassing fashion faux pas long after their introduction. Jennifer Jason Leigh casts a bleakly magnetic presence as Victoria Cunningham. Her introduction is chilling, ominous in ways that linger for future reference. Victoria lovingly inflicts protective matriarchal energy to heart stopping limits. Tension and expectation fuel her every sentence. Tradition never felt so self-serving in the pursuit of a son marrying the right woman.

The eldest son, with the most renowned secret, Jules Cunningham (Jeff Wilbusch), grunts a few condescending remarks, insists on also being called “doctor,” and lets disdain deteriorate his relationship with Rachel from there. His wife Nell (Karla Crome) wastes less time, and is dismissive straight away. Gus Birney is a burst of radioactive energy as Portia Cunningham. Nicky’s most effervescent, and threatening, sister can light up a room, or burn everyone in it with an offhand put down. She immediately takes charge of Rachel’s wedding, and lets everyone know it. Speaking and squeaking with a disarming baby-voiced delivery, Portia is fully armed. She matter-of-factly traumatizes Rachel with the tale of the Sorry Man, a deep part of Jules’s childhood trauma, along with instilling the legendary fear in his son, Jude (Sawyer Fraser). The child’s consequent obsession provides an important vantage point to a forgotten family legend.

The Sorry Man is presented as a true monster. Mindlessly ripping expectant mothers apart in a desperate search for his dead wife, he is the thing of nightmares. He is only one horror legend surrounding the vast but secluded estate. Like any cabin-in-the-woods story, regardless of how large the cabin, “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen” generates anxiety by heightening claustrophobia. The longer the hallways Rachel encounters, the deeper the foreboding of enclosure, until your shoulders tighten and fists clench. Specific incidents don’t invoke terror so much as they conjure a palpable anticipation of dread, befitting the title. To underscore the point, and provide a few giggles, the words “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen” flash on the screen every time someone utters something which will turn out badly.

The first four episodes feel like Italian Giallo horror films of the early 1970s without the defining color scheme. A strong disconnect permeates the unknown world and taints the characters. Rachel can never get a grip of the emotional surroundings, and only circumnavigates discussions with abject retreat. As the series progresses, the shifting allegiances don’t always make sense, which adds to the unease. There is no certainty to their actions in any situation. This drastically changes at the halfway point.

“Something Bad is About to Happen” is a psychological thriller about trust. In an early episode, Rachel even tries family therapy. Her training assumes certain results, which are not accounted for in the open spaces of the Cunningham property. Marital bliss can turn into eternal compliance. The journey works better as an atmospheric disconnect than a capitulation to recognizable norms in the face of unrecognizable certainty. The soundtrack is well chosen, from the road trip radio flashbacks to the many contortions of Paul Anka’s “You Are My Destiny” being woven into scenarios, every note turns hope into apprehension.  

Weddings are supernaturally nerve-wracking, and any marriage can be as much a blessing as a curse. In “Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen,” creator Haley Z. Boston fashions an anti-romcom horror outfit for last-minute decision makers and runaway brides. Soulmates may take it on the nose, but the bleeding is cathartic.

“Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen” debuts March 26 on Netflix.