Netflix viewers have complained about the dim, hard-to-see visuals in the streamer’s new bingeworthy horror series, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen.
The series, executive produced by Stranger Things creators the Duffer brothers, follows engaged couple Rachel (The Night Manager’s Camila Morrone) and Nicky (The White Lotus’s Adam DiMarco), in the days leading up to their wedding when Rachel discovers a sinister curse and chaos ensues.
While viewers have praised the show’s spook-factor, plenty have lamented the dark and gloomy visuals, which make it difficult to see any of the action.
One viewer wrote on X/Twitter: “Trying to watch Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen – why are films so dark? If you're releasing films on Netflix, consider the audience are watching it on a computer screen, not in a f***ing IMAX.”
Another person said they “couldn’t see a thing” on their at-home TV setup: “It’s not made for an old TV!”
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“Watching Something Bad Is Going to Happen on Netflix and I can't see s*** it's so dark!” said one viewer, as another said: “The first couple of episodes were so dark I could hardly see anything. But the vibe was great and I loved how spooky the family was.”
Another fan remarked that the lighting was only a small issue in comparison to the pacing of the series across eight episodes. “I liked the idea of a horror setup, but I just thought it was clumsily executed (not helped by the dark scenes),” they wrote on Reddit. “Maybe with 10 eps they could have paced it better.”
The lighting issue in Something Bad Is Going To Happen has been raised by critics, too. In a two-star review, The Independent’s Louis Chilton highlighted that the series is “so dark and color-washed that it’s hard to tell what you’re even looking at.”
“The drab and colourless look of Something Very Bad undermines everything else about it, neutering horror and drama alike,” he added.
Netflix’s lighting problem has been a consistent issue among critics. Projects as recent as the streamer’s 2025 adaptation of Frankenstein, starring Jacob Elordi, saw reviewers argue that the lighting was inconsistent with the gothic theme of the script.
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Decider’s review of Frankenstein recognized “that signature Netflix flatness in its lighting and focus, a lack of contrast that makes the surfaces stick together across each focal length. Few elements on-screen feel real and tangible, and for a film about blood and sinew, that’s a problem.”
In The Independent’s Something Bad review, Chilton remarked that critiquing Netflix’s lighting problem was like pointing out that “water is wet.”
“It’s a tedious axiom at this point to complain about Netflix’s allergy to good lighting set-ups,” he wrote. “The issue pervades nearly all of its shows, most of its original films, and has been remarked upon endlessly by viewers and critics alike. To mention it is to point out that water is wet, or that the sky is blue.”
He continued: “(Except, of course, if it’s shown on Netflix, in which case the sky is in all likelihood more of a murky blueish grey.)”
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