Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is not just another psychological thriller. It follows Rachel, played by Camila Morrone, a bride moving through what should be one of the most celebratory moments of her life. In the days leading up to her wedding, she begins to reconsider not only the man she is marrying but also the life that comes with him.
The series explores how Rachel becomes entangled in a relationship that, at first, appears familiar. But familiarity, here, is deceptive. She has always lived slightly on edge, shaped by a past that taught her to stay alert, to doubt, to hesitate before trusting certainty. Indeed, across eight episodes, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen slowly pulls you into a space where nothing appears entirely certain. Not the facts. Not the characters. Not even your own interpretation.
“Rachel is a character who doesn’t believe in marriage in the traditional sense,” Morrone says. “It becomes the ultimate test of love. What are you willing to sacrifice for someone else?”
The structure of the series is held together by figures like Rachel's incoming mother-in-law, Victoria, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, whose presence anchors the family while reinforcing its unspoken rules, and Rachel's fiancè, Nicky, played by Adam DiMarco, who offers a sense of belonging, but also becomes part of a dynamic where Rachel is not fully heard. As Morrone tells Glamour, “He represents warmth and love. He takes care of her and embraces all of her, her neuroses and her way of seeing the world.”
The question at the heart of Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen is not just, “Will Rachel get married?” It's about whether or not she has a choice.
We sat down with Camila Morrone to discuss societal expectations of marriage, gaslighting, and the quiet horror of choosing the wrong life.
Glamour: This story feels deeply connected to women’s experiences, especially around marriage, expectations from family, religion and social constructions. For Rachel, how aware is she of all this background playing a role in her decisions?
Camila Morrone: I think Rachel is a character who doesn’t believe in marriage in the traditional sense, or it wouldn’t have been her first choice. I don’t think she’s someone who ever imagined herself walking down the aisle in a white wedding dress. That’s just not her personality. In a lot of ways, she’s a bit of an anarchist and likes to go against the grain and against the norm. But I think that her love for Nicky is what pushes her to expand her mind. She really does want love. She wants a relationship with him. And I think that it becomes a bit of a sacrifice for her, because she knows how much it means to him and to his family. It becomes the ultimate test of love. What are you willing to sacrifice for someone else? I think that plays out throughout the series. Rachel is not traditional in that sense.
I love that about her personality. And building on that, initially, it wasn’t even her dream to get married, but because of love, she chose to. How do you think she navigates that feeling of sacrificing part of her own beliefs while still staying true to herself?
Nicky is the closest person that Rachel has to family now. She’s lost her mother, and she has a very difficult relationship with her father. They haven’t spoken in a long time. So she’s been isolated and on her own for a really long time. Nicky represents warmth and love. He takes care of her and embraces all of her, her neuroses and her way of seeing the world. He doesn’t make her feel crazy. He validates her. And I think she needs that kind of support from him. In many ways, he becomes the family she lost. That’s why she takes the step to get married. In her mind, she would like to have a normal life after a very abnormal upbringing. But at the same time, she’s strong in her beliefs. She’s quite stubborn. She stands her ground. She has complicated feelings about motherhood and about what she wants. I like that she doesn’t conform. She speaks her mind.
At a certain point, it feels like she is stepping into a picture that was already planned before she arrived. How aware is she of that? Does she feel she still has a choice, or is she carried by love and expectation until she begins to realise what is happening?
I think Rachel is hyper-aware of everything. That’s her superpower in a lot of ways. She’s very intuitive and very observant. Nothing really goes past her. When you’re someone who is very aware, you pick up on everything. And I think those small seeds start getting dropped, little moments with the family that feel off. She begins to feel like she’s just filling a role in something that was already created before she arrived. It could be anyone sitting in that position, as long as it fits the family’s idea of what they want. It stops being about her desires. It becomes about a picture that was already painted.
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There’s a moment that really stood out to me around the wedding dress. She doesn’t even want the dress; she just wants to get through the situation, and still, that decision is taken away from her. Nicky listens to his family instead of her. How do you see that dynamic, especially in terms of her not being fully heard?
I think from the moment she arrives, everything starts to feel off. Even small things like that become part of something bigger. She feels like she’s losing control over what’s happening around her. She remembers seeing the dress, and then suddenly it’s not there, and no one acknowledges it. There’s a lot of gaslighting happening. She’s trying to trust herself, but she’s constantly being told that she’s wrong. And that creates a really disorienting experience. She just wants to get through it, but at the same time, she knows something isn’t right.
There is a strong psychological tension around perception, memory and reality. She feels something very clearly, but at the same time, she is being told she is wrong. How does she deal with that?
It’s a really terrible place to be in mentally. When something feels very real to you, but you’re being told that it’s not, and that your feelings are wrong. There’s a lot of gaslighting happening. She becomes very disoriented. She wants to trust her gut, but she’s constantly being told that she’s wrong. It’s a very isolating experience to be in that headspace.
At times, Rachel is even questioned intellectually, even though she is highly perceptive and analytical. Do you think the story is also exploring how women are positioned in that way, even when they are reading reality clearly?
Yes, I think that’s a big part of it. Haley [the show's creator] is really commenting on women and how we’re perceived. How we’re made to feel crazy for having feelings. How we’re put in a box for expressing them. She writes against that. She writes against the idea of women needing to conform. That’s a big part of her voice as a writer.
By the end, do you think Rachel still believes in love in the same way?
I think she believes in love in the same way. But she understands that he is not the right person for her. She needs someone who will truly see her and believe her. That becomes essential for her.
You can watch Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen on Netflix.
Starring The Night Manager's Camila Morrone.
