The Happening
M. Night Shyamalan gets apocalyptic with his latest film, The Happening. The journey to get the film made began in January of 2007 when Shyamalan came up with a spec script called The Green Effect. After no studios expressed interest in the script, he rewrote it with a few changes and 20th Century Fox came on board to make the film.
The Happening is akin to The Birds and other similar nature-turns-against-man ideas from 1950s and 1960s horror films. It works as a slight homage to the genre, as Shyamalan sets his threat up well and works from a decent system to keep audiences guessing and pondering as to what is really occurring. In a society with a heavy interest in a solid ending that answers all questions (hence America’s obsession with religion, ha ha), The Happening is likely not going to please too many people. I’m happy to say that I’m in the minority of people who actually found it enjoyable.
Mark Wahlberg starts off suspending belief as a high school science teacher. He is teaching class on a day when an “event” begins to occur in New York’s famed Central Park. People are dropping like flies, falling into trances and committing suicide in a variety of ways. This mass suicide gets the notice of major media outlets and people begin to panic, believing there to be a sort of terrorist threat underway.
Elliot Moore (Wahlberg) gets his shit together and heads for the hills with his wife, Alma (Zooey Deschanel), and his friend, Julian (John Leguizamo). Julian’s daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) is also along for the ride. The group packs on to a train and heads out of town, believing the threat to be somehow related to New York City. With a group of others, the people eventually begin to panic and look desperately for ways out of the situation. All the while, news of the “event” keeps pouring in. It is interesting to see how Shyamalan depicts this mass exodus, as the people proceed with relative calm underlined by a sense of quiet worry. This is perhaps how people would flee an unknown threat.
The remainder of the film follows Elliot and his wife as they try to find safety, try to wait this “event” out, and try to figure out just what the hell is going on as people drop dead all around them from self-inflicted wounds. Moments of legitimate threats are few and far between, mainly because the threat itself is considered to be The Great Unknown. There are a few theories, of course, but nothing really holds water as the plot bears out. Perhaps the greatest disappointment for fans of conventional thrillers is that there is no actual explanation of The Happening. There are only theories.
One of the theories floating around in the film is that of the earth growing tired of our insults and our abuse. This idea, backed by modern science, adds a legitimate sense of dread to the film. Other theories, such as that of government involvement, are also given airtime. Without giving away the ending, there is one theory that does have primacy in the world of The Happening, but even that rumbles with uncertainty as the raw implications are left open for audiences to digest.
It is truly a genre piece and functions well as a nod to the frightful end-is-nigh scenarios of some of horror’s finest. It is not surprising that many of the movie’s most significant threats come from other scared and clueless human beings, as the exploration of the natural reaction of people is as much as part of the film’s framework as any actual external source or threat.
Overall, The Happening is quite intriguing. The scenario is compelling enough, but the way it plays out leaves a lot to be desired. The climax or lack of climax will likely leave many standard filmgoers groaning, but I found the ideas presented by Shyamalan to be timely and interesting. The performances, however, left a lot to be desired and many of them (Deschanel in particular) were actually quite terrible. The injections of humour in some scenes (Elliot talking to a plastic plant, etc.) show that the director is “on the take”, adding to the overall homage feel of the film. The Happening is a parable that is well worth a look if you can deal with a strange “plot” and eerie events that are, quite likely, blowin’ in the wind.
Trailer:
