Even before we reach their destination, there’s a lot to unpack in the opening moments of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen.
A sense of dread kicks in immediately — from an awkward overhead diner conversation about missing animals, to the eerie podcast playing during their drive. Then there’s Nicky (Adam DiMarco) attempting to hold his breath through a long tunnel — much to the annoyance of his fiancée Rachel (Camila Morrone), who looks back at the dark exit behind them and mutters, “That’s bad luck.”
Yes… it is. And we’re not even twenty minutes in.
An abandoned baby. A dead fox in the cubicle of a rundown toilet. A creepy encounter with a strange old man in a roadside diner who quietly asks, “Are you sure he’s the one?”
Soon after, a young woman behind the bar reveals why the name Benjamin on her badge isn’t hers — and just like that, this eight-part Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen piles on the unease.
It’s a staggering start — one that throws every horror cliché at the screen… almost as if it’s testing how well you know the genre.
And you know what? It works.
By the time Rachel arrives at Nicky’s vast cabin in the woods — his family’s retreat — you’re already on edge. Taxidermied pets stare lifelessly from/ every corner, and a family portrait hangs on the wall… with a vacant space where Rachel is clearly meant to be.
By this point, you’re not just questioning what’s happening — you’re wondering why Rachel hasn’t already grabbed her things, called off the wedding, and left Nicky a very single man. But this is the overall beauty within the first few episodes of this show created by Haley Z Boston, writer on revenge horror series Brand New Cherry with the Duffer Brothers – yes Stranger Things- serving as Executive Producers – in that it plays with what you are expecting and yet flipping it to something else.
We’re then introduced to the family — and things get unsettling fast. Nicky’s sister Portia (Gus Birney) wastes no time in warning Rachel about the “Sorry Man” — a bogeyman said to lurk in the woods, killing anyone who crosses his path.
Ah… so that’s what this show is about? Or is it?
Brother Jules (Jeff Wilbusch) claims to have seen the Sorry Man as a child — an encounter that clearly left its mark. But why does he now stare at Rachel with such an unsettling glare? Why is Victoria — Nicky’s mother — standing alone in the dead of night, whispering to herself? And why does their father, Dr Cunningham (Ted Levine), keep returning to those woods?
It’s a delicious tease from the writers — layering question upon question — but thankfully, unlike many mystery-driven horrors, this one actually delivers. The answers come, and when they do, they land hard. As each episode peels back another layer, that “Sorry Man” subplot reveals itself to be one of the grimmest — and most memorable — horror threads of 2026.
With an unease that seeps into every frame, what could easily have been a silly premise is elevated by a staggering performance from Michele Morrone. His Rachel does all the right things — refusing to fall into the usual victim traps — making it all the easier for the audience to root for her survival, no matter what’s coming.
And when the reveal finally lands? Thankfully, it delivers. Blood is spilled, and we watch on with a grim sense of satisfaction.
SOMETHING VERY BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN… and it absolutely does — with the journey there proving to be a genuinely terrifying one.
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