• Network: Netflix
  • Series Premiere Date: Mar 26, 2026
Metascore
65

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 22
  2. Negative: 2 out of 22

Critic Reviews

  1. Reviewed by: Louise Griffin
    Mar 26, 2026
    60
    While it doesn't quite reach the heights it could have, this new addition to Netflix's horror roster should still earn a place in your weekend viewing.
  2. Reviewed by: Alison Herman
    Mar 26, 2026
    60
    Ultimately, I quite liked the show “Something Very Bad” becomes once Boston and her team put their cards on the table. But that show is different enough from the initial presentation, and takes long enough to reveal itself, that I’m not convinced “Something Very Bad” is best served by its chosen format.
  3. Reviewed by: Nick Schager
    Mar 26, 2026
    55
    Too often, the answers it provides are as underwhelming as its action is woefully underlit.
  4. Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Mar 27, 2026
    50
    The big challenge for this horror series involves stretching out the “Why don’t you run away now?” vibe over eight episodes.
  5. 50
    An all-timer of a movie lurks inside Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, and the spookiest thing is that it exists in this bloated form.
  6. Reviewed by: Matthew Creith
    Mar 26, 2026
    50
    What begins as a promising slow-burn psychological horror gradually collapses under the weight of its own mystery.
  7. Reviewed by: Judy Berman
    Mar 26, 2026
    50
    The back half of the season is better overall. The ending isn’t revelatory, in the sense that it doesn’t quite complete Something’s thoughts on matrimony or family or inherited attitudes toward either, but it’s clever and kind of exhilarating. Characters like Nell and Jules gain some depth. There are a few well-executed twists among the many that are easy to anticipate. But those developments create new problems.
  8. Reviewed by: Louis Chilton
    Mar 26, 2026
    40
    It’s hard to shake the feeling that this would have worked better as a feature film: the pacing drags, and some of the tortuous plotting feels as if it is simply stalling for time. More annoying still is the series’ aesthetic, which is frequently so dark and colour-washed that it’s hard to tell what you’re even looking at.