Netflix Camila Morrone in “A Very Bad Feeling”
The set, the white dress, the guests, the rings, the vows, and the anxieties. Lots of anxieties. Netflix released on Thursday 26th March “A Very Bad Feeling”. This horror series on the theme of marriage is produced by the Duffer brothers, who are behind the phenomenon “Stranger Things”. Sufficient caution to attract viewers, but does it really captivate them? Opinions differ.
Take a young bride with a dramatic past, and a kind, wealthy future husband. Put them in a luxury, creepy chalet villa filled with stuffed animals. Add a completely neurotic in-law family, and you have the ingredients of the new Netflix series. Camila Morrone and Adam DiMarco star in this psychological (but not only) thriller set in a snowy and eerie environment.
Due to time constraints, we have not seen the entire first season of eight episodes, so it is impossible to provide a complete and honest review. However, the initial feeling we can express is, rarely, mixed. We were visually mesmerized by the cinematography, the icy landscape, and the numerous frightening details, such as the stuffed hunting dogs that no one should look in the eyes. We were also terrified by the well-executed jump scares, to the point of lowering the sound or averting our eyes several times to spare our hearts.
But we were also disoriented, if not overwhelmed, by the excessive number of elements and clues thrown at poor Rachel, which fuel both her paranoia and her investigation into this truly bizarre family that welcomes her. And let’s say, puzzles are not really our thing.
A Masterfully Executed Horror Series
What everyone agrees on, however, is the horrific potential of “A Very Bad Feeling”. Between flashbacks and flash-forwards of blood trails, horrifying family stories about a murderer roaming the woods, and ghostly figures haunting the poorly lit corridors of the house, yes, it’s scary.
“The Guardian” describes the series as “so hellish it will keep you from sleeping”, “Indiewire” praises the filmmaking that will delight horror and gore fans, and “Screen Rant” heaps praise on this thrilling and terrifying series that will leave all viewers shaken.
The impeccable performance of Camila Morrone, recently seen in season 2 of “The Night Agent”, as well as that of other actors like Adam DiMarco (“The White Lotus”), Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Gus Birney, is also applauded. Where opinions diverge is on the pacing of the series written by Haley Z. Boston.
Scattered Puzzle
Some, like “Time”, feel that the series takes too long to “start” properly. “I had to resist the urge to speed up to 1.5x just to finally know what’s going on,” jokes the journalist, regretting that it takes until halfway through the series to begin to “understand a bit of what we’re watching.” An opinion shared by “Variety”, which believes that horror in general, and this particular storyline, may not lend themselves well to the format of a TV series split into episodes: “The necessary tension to truly scare is extremely difficult to maintain over several hours.” “The Hollywood Reporter” confirms this and also finds that the secondary characters are not explored enough, “which is strange, given how long this series seems to be, that it doesn’t take the time to dissect its characters.”
For “Screen Rant”, however, this disjointed and slow-paced narrative is a way to “keep the viewer on edge, as they never know who to believe or trust.” “Indiewire” also loved that “each episode that brings the spouses closer to the altar is filled with creepy twists and intelligent existential reflections.”
Some preferred the initial eerie, foggy, and cliff-hanging episodes, during which you wonder “What’s going on?” Others liked the following episodes, during which Rachel and the viewer begin to piece together the puzzle. Some, like “IndieWire”, “Screen Rant”, or “Écran Large”, loved it. Others, like “Télérama”, or the “Wall Street Journal”, hated it. We’ll let you form your own opinion. Just not while eating, and with the lights on, at least.
