Plot A plague of grisly suicides strikes the East Coast of the United States, in what appears to be a terrorist attack. Science teacher Elliott (Wahlberg), his wife, Alma (Deschanel), his friend Julian (Leguizamo) and Julian’s daughter Jess (Sanchez) flee the contaminated area and gradually come to understand the true cause of the disaster.
Review
Back in 2006, M. Night Shyamalan made an American Express ad. A year on, and he’s shot another advertisement, this time for environmentalism. The Happening may be longer than a conventional commercial but the levels of drama and plotting remain pretty much the same. For all Shyamalan’s noble intentions, one brief flurry of contaminated air and his latest creation is scattered to the wind.
Rumour has it that the studio thought the early drafts of Shyamalan’s screenplay a little, well, drafty, and that they asked him to rustle up bigger scares. The result is his first R-rated film, which, oddly enough, is also his least unnerving. For his monster in the woods, he turns to the woods themselves, harnessing the murderous potential of that meanest of mothers, Mother Nature, and unleashing her fury upon us via an airborne chemical assault.
The opening scenes in and around New York’s Central Park are unsettling - audiences may be wary of building sites when they wander home - but once the film sweeps into the lush Pennsylvanian countryside, the shocks dissipate. This is not a landscape that makes us feel uneasy. And unlike in, say, The Birds, nature remains a strangely intangible foe.
As with his last two outings, Shyamalan again asks much of his audience in requiring us to overlook the slim narrative thread. But in contrast to The Village and Lady In The Water, he does not offer us any incentive to invest in his flimsy tale. The director no doubt hopes that we’d follow his lead’s lead - Elliot (Mark Wahlberg) is a man of science, but he sees God in the numbers, heaven in the spaces.
It is a lofty, honourable ideal but Wahlberg gives us no reason to believe. In searching for his inner child, he seems to find only a poor representation of his outer one. Deschanel fares better - as the more sceptical of the two, she is not burdened with Wahlberg’s poorly crafted romanticism. Both are burdened with an appalling script, and appear to have been directed into a hyper-stylised type of 1950s B-movie acting that comically reduces the tension. Many believe that Shyamalan is a better director than writer. On this evidence it’s too close to call.
Verdict A disappointingly slight offering from a filmmaker that we know is capable of so much more. Shyamalan says that The Happening was his easiest film to shoot. Sadly, it shows.
I was looking foward to watching this, as the plot was good. the opening scences looked promising but when it got 3 or 4 minutes in i noticed the very poor acting and rubbish special effects. so many films like this think its o.k to just fudge issues like , where did they get there cars from? the train guy who said.. we lost contact with everyone should of borrowed that old womens i phone! i don't know .
i turned this off 15 minutes in. very poor. sad really as this had the potential of being ... Read More
oh.my.god
words really cant describe how simply terrible everything in this movie. Half way through, I convinced my self that it was a piss take. Really bad acting, worse diologue. I would happily watch anything with Paris Hilton then be subjected to tripe like this again ... Read More
Oh my . What was Wahlberg ghy does every sentence he say end like ]?
Deschanel and him act like they're in a high school project. Truly awful, its one of those films which is actually a struggle to finish. Rarely do you find a film where every single performance is stunningly shit. ... Read More
Whilst most critics and viewers felt that shyamalans latest film is simply ridiculous and daft I actually enjoyed it more than I'd like to admit. There are some genuinely great movie moments and I'm sure if the master of suspense had directed "The Happening", it would be considered a classic. Howvever, the dialogue is weak with most of Shyamalans efforts going on the camera work, editing and cinematography. However the main problem is Mark Wahlbergs performance which is totally wooden,... Read More
Very disapointing movie, looked great from the trailer, the final result was a very over-the-top thriller, that every time a violent scene happened it cut away.... a lot of the implications were creepy but it could have a least shown them.... all the cast seem like they've been asked to act badly, and the eventual plot is so silly it beggars belief....
2/5 ... Read More
L: Fluke Skywalker
-The way that whole cafe emptied out and screeched off in various cars literally within seconds of learning about the supposed safe zones belonged in a comedy film.
sp;
Yeah that was quite funny.
I assumed most of the people in the cafe were from the train, then when thay all ran out and got in cars i was like WTF?
I still enjoyed it in a weird way though. ... Read More
Saw this last night and was so underwhelmed by it. It just seemed unfinshed and shoddy. The opening was promising, but then just got silly. Mark Wahlburg's girlfriend was awfull, wooden and miscast. The part in the zoo was badly done and what was up with the creepy old lady...before the toxins got her? And the ending?? Very disappointing all round. ... Read More
**** Shitloads of spoilers ****
The fact I've got something out of all of Shyamalan's films must mean I'm officially a fan and The Happening as it happened was no different. It's strange because I never found it particularly scary, only a touch disturbing and quite funny at times.
Contrary to other views I thought Mark Wahlberg was actually pretty good in a non-hardnut role although John Leguizamo was a bit wasted. Zooey Deschanel's character just came across kinda strange and the l... Read More
Classic
Excellent
Good
Fair
Tragic
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