Hayley Z Boston’s new mini-series derives its horror from one question: Are you sure he’s the one? What are you risking if he’s not? The prophetic title acts alongside an episodic countdown to ‘I do’ in a way that equates wedding bells to a funeral march.
A warning for spoilers ahead: something very bad happens. The series follows Rachel Harkin (Camila Morrone) and her fiancé Nicky Cunningham (Adam DiMarco) in the days leading up to their wedding at his family’s house in the woods. Rachel’s introduction to the Cunningham’s rings close to the tone of Ready or Not (2019), throwing her into a world of prestige, old money, and seemingly eerie motives.
Boston throws several red herrings to both main character and audience in the first four episodes of the series, and while some viewers have reported this being 'cheap scares', I'm here to offer a different reading. The series plays on a certain level of meta. The audience knows the genre they are watching, as well as the name.
The opening shots of the first episode show us a bloodsoaked wedding. Therefore, even if the circumstances remain a mystery, we are placed alongside Rachel in knowing for certainty that (and excuse the pun) something very bad is going to happen. Rachel’s inexplicable dread, as a result of her lived experience and the curse that has followed her since her violent birth, has her looking out for the same clues the audience is trying to pick up on.
What this leads to is her sometimes following a wrong trail, such as the belief that the Cunninghams are eager for a cult-like bridal sacrifice, and ignoring more glaringly obvious things, like her incompatibility with her Fiancé. Marriage as a means of horror is frontline in SVBIGTH and has taken a leading role in the genre as a whole. Ready or Not, Till Death, and the cult classic Possession, are all examples of supernatural elements combined with the ageold institution as a way of communicating oppression, and how marriage can be used as a vehicle of violence and control.
SVBIGTH pushes us to consider this aspect across the spectrum: a marriage that can stifle you, a marriage with the wrong man, a marriage that changes who you are at your core. A marriage that can kill you. Any one of those things can lead to Rachel’s demise.
Marriage as a means of horror is frontline in SVBIGTH
As a character, Rachel and her dynamics to those around her feel unquestionably real. Her fights with Nicky feel almost voyeuristic to watch – like overstepping into a couple’s highly vulnerable moments. She makes imperfect choices at times, but the conflict of the series relies on her kindness and selflessness regarding her fiancé.
The bonds she builds with Jules and Nell are strong, to the point of multiple fan theories suggesting one of the pair to be her true soulmate – a theory I thoroughly reject. The compatibility of Jules and Nell as equal partners is a crucial foil to the unbalanced relationship between Rachel and Nicky, resulting in a truly heartfelt conclusion to their characters in the final episode. The idea of her partnership with Nicky being an unhealthy one is reliant on proof that the curse isn’t a catch-22.
Marriage as an oppressive force can only be combated by two things: true companionship and honesty between two individuals, otherwise its gentleness is just a facade. Or escaping. The conclusion to Rachel’s character is freeing, albeit blood-stained.
She escapes the curse of her mother, and her role as a Witness is clearly one of guidance rather than of fear. In reshaping her own fate, she begins a new cycle that does not have to be shaped by corpses in white gowns.