The only reason I gave this movie 1/2 star is I don't think it's possible to give it 1/4 star. Dreck. Total incomprehensible, simplistic, credulity-stretching dreck. Some of the worst acting I have seen in a long time, and a thoroughly unearned...
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The only reason I gave this movie 1/2 star is I don't think it's possible to give it 1/4 star. Dreck. Total incomprehensible, simplistic, credulity-stretching dreck. Some of the worst acting I have seen in a long time, and a thoroughly unearned sense of relevance and self-importance. Shyamalan knows how to frame a scene and create a mood, but he seriously needs to hire some writers. Save your time with this one- go rent a dvd of "What's Happening" instead. Go, Rerun!

Trailer looked interesting. Movie was...no IS a fail ! Come on seriously...all of a sudden and out of the blue all plants decide they need 2 "protect" themselves ? ermm...why ? And of course as soon as we aren't afraid of suicide we all...
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Trailer looked interesting. Movie was...no IS a fail ! Come on seriously...all of a sudden and out of the blue all plants decide they need 2 "protect" themselves ? ermm...why ? And of course as soon as we aren't afraid of suicide we all IMMEDIATELY search the most convenient tool, item, gadget anything 2 commit suicide ? Sorry but that is just bull.

the first thing i noticed in this movie was the horrible acting. the movie had a twisted and disturbing theme. some of the images were pretty disturbing too. the movie had no special aspects to it and was just kind of dull. i didnt understand the...
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the first thing i noticed in this movie was the horrible acting. the movie had a twisted and disturbing theme. some of the images were pretty disturbing too. the movie had no special aspects to it and was just kind of dull. i didnt understand the seen where (sorry i dont really remember the names) the creppy family crashes and everyone but the professers friend dies. i also didnt understand the parts when the wierd guy kept calling the professers girlfriend. there were a lot of seens just to make you be suspicious of what was going to happen next. but it was an ok movie. i didnt hate it.

HORRIBLE FILM!!!!!! My dad and I both agree that this is the worst film we've ever seen!!! It wasn't scary (very disturbing), the acting was terrible, and the ending was very lame. M. Night has made some great films (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable,...
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HORRIBLE FILM!!!!!! My dad and I both agree that this is the worst film we've ever seen!!! It wasn't scary (very disturbing), the acting was terrible, and the ending was very lame. M. Night has made some great films (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs). This film was worse than Lady in the Water and The Village!!!!! I have lost faith in M. Night's ability to make a film with a fantastic story, great acting, and great ending!!!! DO NOT waste your money renting this DVD!!!!

The project of the fan favorite and critically acclaimed director M. Night Shyamalan
, responsible for such unique films as The Village, Signs, and Lady in the Water. He is supposedly a master of suspense, just as Hitchcok was back in the...
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The project of the fan favorite and critically acclaimed director M. Night Shyamalan
, responsible for such unique films as The Village, Signs, and Lady in the Water. He is supposedly a master of suspense, just as Hitchcok was back in the day. His reputation of including a twist or surprise ending has become a prominent signature of his work. The Happening is a modern day story set in a real life society of a tragic event that causes panic and confusion among citizens. This is a classic paranoia film of anything that can possibly go wrong probably will and you have no chance to prepare for it. The Happening takes us on an intense emotional thrill ride, jumping from moment to moment before the viewer has a chance to come to terms with the previous events. Night has always done of good job of playing on our fears. The fear of the unknown, the fear of the inescapable etc., all work as a driving force for the plot.The multi mysteries that surround his movies keep us guessing while hanging on the edge of our seat, and this filmy is a perfect example. Being a rated R film, the extreme content has risen and perhaps overstepped its bounds, going a bit beyond the realm of good taste. Night takes things considerably a little too far in some scenes that borderline offensive. Earning the R rating seemed to be an achievement the he pushed for instead of concentrating on making a solid story with just enough content to get the point across. Although, Night removed some of the material he felt was “gratuitous� still enough remains to label the film as disturbing. You almost wonder what is it the Mr. Shyamalan is trying to achieve be repeatedly showing murder suicide? If this were a straight forward horror film all things would be accepted but because Night is known for telling a more thrilling suspenseful tale, it feels oddly out of place. Perhaps he is transitioning more into being a horror film director?

I don’t particularly care for the acting or script in this one, I felt like the main characters weren’t realistic enough or in the mindset of everything that’s taking place. Other characters such as the elderly and delusional Miss Jones have no relevance to the plot or development of the story. I don’t think this was a good role for Mark Whalberg. It was much different from what we are used to seeing and expecting from him. His character was a very Mamby Pampy sorta guy and I think it was a little bit of a stretch for someone as exciting as Mark. As for his costar and on screen girlfriend Zooey Deschanel, I feel like she is getting type casted as the innocent but confused girl next door, and her roles become all the same to me. In this one she looked distant and almost aloof as in many others. The little girl is barely there and says practically nothing, only serving the purpose of a test-drive experience for the couple on what it would be like to have a child of their own, which is a central conflict between them from the beginning of the movie, and the key to what’s holding back there relationship. However M Night chose to remove the beginning scene which would have explained this, instead we only learn it much later. Still I have to agree with his choice to remove the scene as it was too revealing and lengthy, and not really what the film was supposed to be about.

There are a few things that work in this picture, such as the main character is a science teacher, which gives the viewer a sense of hope that whatever is happening will be scientifically explained at some point in the movie. It also works in a sense that as you watch you’re going through perhaps the same thought process as Elliot, trying to determine a logical explanation. I think some of the attention and focus was misdirected at things that really didn’t have any relevance such as in the scene with the wooden swing, why was there so much emphasis on the tree branch swaying? It seems odd and unnecessary, other than to build even more paranoia to an already intense situation. It just felt pointless.

The whole idea behind this film seems very far fetched. How could an invisible toxin be causing people to loose control of their thoughts and go so far as to intentionally murder themselves? If that weren’t illogical enough, we are expected to believe that this toxin immediately when it enters the brain causes the person to find unique and creative ways to commit suicide. I find that hard to swallow.

I have to complain about a particular scene in a diner where it seems people are just sitting around watching mutilation videos on their cell phone at full length. We already know the toxin makes people kill themselves so the video is basically redundant, painful to watch, and non satisfying.

The end of the movie provides you with relief and a safe return of our main characters, and we see that overcoming this event together has helped them move on with their relationship, but there is little explanation as given as to the why or how this all happened, and will it ever happen again? Who knows is the answer we’re given.
Just like a good Hitchcok flick, the mystery remains.

Then in one final scene, the horror has returned.

Overall I think this film is definitely worth watching, it’s a good couples movie but I don’t think it has the same effect on a large group of people. There are just too many things the film does poorly to rank it with the best of its kind. Shyamalan has done better work.

The movie had the potential to be a hit but missed. Suffering from stiff acting and even stiffer dialog, this movie could of been a lot more if more time was spent looking at it. Plants defending the earth, kinda original but thats it.

a very boring movie.
have no special things about it...
the story is bad too.

A Virus is making people go nuts in "The Happening"! Who needed a virus. The latest M. Night Shymalan film is propably one of the better films I've seen this year. Why the movie is so hated remains up in the air effected by the virus. If...
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A Virus is making people go nuts in "The Happening"! Who needed a virus. The latest M. Night Shymalan film is propably one of the better films I've seen this year. Why the movie is so hated remains up in the air effected by the virus. If there's one thing I've learned from this movie, is stay as far away from trees. Though this movie has it's share of problems, I really did love this movie, and it did keep me at the edge of my seat. Mark Whalberg gives a so so performance as Elliot Moore, a science teacher. He soon becomes involved in a natural disaster where the trees are supposedly rebelling against humans in large groups. People start to lose words, become paralyzed, and kill themselves. Elliot tries to escape the danger zone with his wife Alma, played fairly well by Zooey Deschanel, his best friend Jullian, played very well by John Leguazamo, and Julian's eight year old daughter Jess. Julian leaves the group to go looking for his wife and I think everyone knows the sad fate he meets. When communication has been lost with most of the north eastern border, Elliot, Alma, and Jess survive on theory. The film does start to falter drastically in the third act, and starts getting to nuts like creepy old ladies and depressed cowboys who shoot kids, but I still really enjoyed and was satisfied by the film. The screenplay here is really bad, and definitely isn't winning any awards, but the direction is really good here. M. Night Shymalan in my opinion, and apparently not so many other's, is back in shape.

After watching the trailer for The Happening, I was sure that M. Night Shyamalan would redeem himself from his last mess Lady in the Water. I was wrong. The Happening (Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel) is the tale of a high school biology teacher...
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After watching the trailer for The Happening, I was sure that M. Night Shyamalan would redeem himself from his last mess Lady in the Water. I was wrong. The Happening (Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel) is the tale of a high school biology teacher Elliot who witnesses a catastrophic epidemic occurring in the East coast of the United States. Something is making people lose speech, and eventually force them to commit suicide by what ever means. The rest of the film is about Elliot, his wife, and his friend's daughter (among some other survivors) trying to figure out what is happening, and try to get to safety. I will admit, some of the scenes in the film were disturbing, and were somewhat stressful...but it still didn't give that psychological chill factor that his previous efforts made (Sixth Sense, Signs). I found the acting was mediocre at best, and is one of Marky Mark's weakest performances. The movie was unique, I give it that. I haven't really seen a movie with a "killer" such as what was in The Happening. I did not like this movie, but it was certainly not the worst movie I have ever seen (Like many people are saying). 2.5/5