The Happening (2008)

The Happening (2008)

by Eric Maus

(this review contains spoilers)

"What kind of terrorists are these?"

   The Happening. It's a good title. It peaks our interest, and evokes both curiosity and dread. The poster does the same. Since he was the guy who gave us Signs and The Sixth Sense, I thought M. Night Shyamalan had another good movie headed our way. Remember, this was before The Last Airbender. Well, Shyamalan definitely surprised us with this film...just not in a good way.

   It begins in Central Park. The wind blows. Everyone freezes. Suddenly, a woman stabs herself with a metal hairpin. Construction workers begin leaping from high rises. A police officer shoots himself.  A taxi driver picks up the gun and does the same. People all over New England begin killing themselves, for no apparent reason. Why is this happening? That's what high school teacher Elliot Moore and his wife Alma are trying to figure out, as they flee the quickly spreading virus as fast as they can. As everyone around them commits suicide one by one, they begin to wonder if escape is still an option.

  The Happening (rated R for violence and disturbing images) was pretty well made. The plot does exactly what a thriller should; it keeps us guessing, and in turn proves us wrong, over and over again. The acting is also very good; Mark Wahlberg stars as Elliot and Zooey Deschanel plays Alma. Another highlight of this film is that it's able to maintain it's very eerie feeling throughout; something many thrillers fail to do. The soundtrack, cinematography, and dialogue all assist in making this a creepy film. Don't get me wrong; it's definitely not a horror picture, but it's still pretty unnerving.

   In his films, specifically his thrillers, M. Night Shyamalan always has a different theme. In The Sixth Sense it was ghosts, in Signs it was aliens, in Devil it was demons, etc. I wondered what the theme/twist was going to be here. What is causing this bizarre virus that turns off the part of our brains that keeps us from hurting ourselves? Is it terrorists with a new bio-chemical weapon? Robots from the future come back to destroy us? Evil warlocks? Or what if all the trees are really mad at us humans for cutting down forests and mowing lawns, and they decide to release a chemical that makes us kill ourselves. Haha, wouldn't that be dumb. Well, guess what? That's exactly what happens. I am not even kidding. In this movie, the plants of our world are angry that we treat them with such disrespect, and so they create and release a disease that results in the deaths of hundreds of humans. At the end of the movie, after the virus seems to have gone away, a scientist comes on the news and announces to the world that this was just a warning, and if we don't shape up in our attitude towards plants, they will kill us all. Of course, everyone just scoffs at him and moves on with their lives as if nothing ever happened. The film closes with a scene in Paris; the wind blows, the trees sway, and everyone freezes again. Oh no, the revenge of the plants is inevitable. Wow. Shyamalan must be trying to get on board with all the other enviro nuts. Is this movie supposed to scare us into buying Hybrids? Preserve this planet or die? Well, this movie seemed to get a lot more laughs than anything else, and am I surprised? Of course not.

   Recommendation? It's simple. Make sure to water all your plants three times a day, give them plenty of sunlight, and tell them you love them every night. No, just kidding. My real recommendation is to spend your time doing something valuable, instead of wasting 90 minutes of your life watching this joke.