The Happening (2008)
Average Rating: 4/10
Reviews Counted: 173
Fresh: 30 | Rotten: 143
The Happening begins with promise, but unfortunately descends into an incoherent and unconvincing trifle.
Average Rating: 3.9/10
Critic Reviews: 42
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 37
The Happening begins with promise, but unfortunately descends into an incoherent and unconvincing trifle.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.7/5
User Ratings: 339,622
Movie Info
Lady in the Water director M. Night Shyamalan puts PG-13 suspense on pause to tell this grim apocalyptic tale about a family fleeing a natural disaster that poses a grave threat to the whole of humanity. Philadelphia high-school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) is discussing the disappearance of the bees with his students when the staff is summoned to the theater and briefed about a mysterious event that is currently unfolding in New York City. According to reports, citizens in the
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Cast
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Mark Wahlberg
Elliot Moore -
Zooey Deschanel
Alma Moore -
John Leguizamo
Julian -
Ashlyn Sanchez
Jess -
Betty Buckley
Mrs. Jones -
Spencer Breslin
Josh -
Robert Bailey Jr.
Jared -
Frank Collison
Nursery Owner -
Jeremy Strong
Private Auster -
Alan Ruck
Principal -
Victoria Clark
Nursery Owner's Wife -
Alison Folland
Woman Reading on Bench ... -
M. Night Shyamalan
Joey -
Kristen Connolly
Woman Reading on Bench -
Cornell Womack
Construction Foreman -
Curtis L. McClarin
Construction Crew Membe... -
Robert Lenzi
Jake -
Derege Harding
Train Conducter -
Kerry O'Malley
Woman On Cell Phone -
Shayna Levine
Teenage Girl in Jeep -
Stéphane Debac
French Bicyclist -
Cyrille Thouvenin
French Bicyclist's Frie... -
Babita Hariani
Medical Correspondent -
Alicia Taylor
U.S. Reporter -
Edward James Hyland
Professor Kendall Walla... -
Armand Schultz
Talk Show Host -
Stephen Singer
Dr. Ross -
Sophia Burke
Student Named Laura -
Alex Van Kooy
Boy in Class -
Charlie Saxton
Student Named Dylan -
Kathy Hart
Vice Principal -
Lisa Gunn
Teacher In Auditorium -
Rick Foster
Railway Police Officer -
Marc H. Glick
P.A. System Coordinator -
Don Castro
Philadelphia Police Off... -
Bill Chemerka
Taxi Driver -
Jan Ellis
Older Woman with Dog -
Whitney Sugarman
Passenger -
Mary Ellen Driscoll
Woman Passenger -
Greg Wood
Passenger at Counter -
Peter Appel
Diner Owner -
Eoin O'Shea
Passenger #1 -
Michael Quinlan
Passenger #2 -
Lyman Chen
Passenger #3 -
Brian O'Halloran
Jeep Driver -
Megan Mazaika
Jeep Passenger #1 -
Richard Chew
Keep Passenger #2 -
Keith E. Bullard
Man In Crowd at Crossro... -
Joel de la Fuente
Realtor -
Ashley Brimfield
Woman in Group -
Mara Hobel
Woman with Hands Over E... -
James "Jimbo" Breen
Farmhouse Voice -
Carmen Bitonti
Mangled Construction Wo... -
Brian Anthony Wilson
Arguing Man in Crowd -
Greg Smith Aldridge
Zoo Employee -
Ukee Washington
Local News Anchor -
John Ottavino
Network News Anchor -
Sid Doherty
Radio News Anchor -
Wes Heywood
Radio Voice -
Nancy Sokerka
Radio Caller Fay -
Julia Yorks
Young Woman Voice on Ph... -
Bill Shusta
Radio Newsman -
Kirk Penberthy
Radio Announcer -
Alex Craft
Truck Passenger Boy -
Allie Habberstad
Truck Passenger Girl -
-
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The Happening Trailer & Photos
All Critics (173) | Top Critics (42) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (143) | DVD (6)
[A]n astonishment, so idiotic in conception and inept in execution that, after seeing it, one almost wonders whether it was real or imagined.
Top CriticThe Happening is an awful letdown, yet it leaves you with something new, as a gently waving tree -- that classical image of pastoral tranquillity -- mutates into a harbinger of doom.
For a movie with the potential for so much global-warming electricity, it's disappointingly low on voltage.
It almost dares you to roll your eyes or laugh at certain scenes that are supposed to be deadly serious. But, you know what, I appreciated this creatively offbeat, daring sci-fi mind-trip.
All that's missing is the head alien of Plan 9 From Outer Space dropping by to lecture the populace for disrespecting nature: 'Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!'
Feeble gust of an environmental horror story.
Wahlberg is atrocious, as wooden as the trees terrorising him.
Horror film is long on peril, but thin on plot.
Shot in the inimitable Shyamalan lugubriousness
Shyamalan sve lo%u0161ije reagira na gubitak statusa holivudskog bo%u017Eanstva
Seeing The Happening is like going on an outing with an earnest person, who happens to be a drunk. Every time it starts to make sense, it slurs its speech and starts dropping things -- such as coherence and credibility.
More than anything, what bothers me about it is a sense of cheapness that ... centrally comes from a concept mainly built for shock value.
Undoubtedly M. Night Shyamalan's weakest thriller to date...
While not as laughable as the narcissistic Lady in the Water ,it fails just as miserably as narrative and even more miserably with its flat characters and tone deaf dialogue.
It's a great idea. A silent, unknown killing machine knocking people off while a science teacher tries to figure out why. But it just didn't work.
Shyamalan's latest is an improvement, but a full-fledged comeback ain't happening.
Shyamalan is a master at a visual iconic moment - but the "filler" (you might have learned about it in English class by this name: "story") gets weaker and weaker every film.
The M. Knight brilliance is there in quick jolts of suspense and terror, but those moments are the exception in this otherwise flat little thriller.
Shyamalan's religious ideas are a lot like Bush's: Nearly theology free.
M. Night Shyamalan offers up low-intensity thrills that fail to match the shivery shudders of his best work (THE SIXTH SENSE, SIGNS). His patented approach - mixing domestic drama with horror - plays out on a much larger canvas.
It is the first film of his career that feels incompetent and utterly gratuitous at times.
Shyamalan creates another urban myth with this slow burning thriller. But it never quite comes to life, due to stiff directing and acting
Usually Shyamalan can hide his limitations as a screenwriter behind his skill as a director. Here, that skill fails him as well, and the whole movie falls apart.
Un nuevo fiasco de M. Night Shyamalan, que sigue siendo un director con ideas interesantes (tanto argumentales como visuales) pero que necesita urgentemente la ayuda de un buen guionista.
Holy Mother of God...this is awful.
Audience Reviews for The Happening
Super Reviewer
An inexplicable natural disaster is causing people to commit suicide and that sets in motion a tale of survival that has the potential to be quite thrilling. Instead Shyamalan struggles to build a fully realized film out of this one idea. What ultimately kills the film for good is the ultimate explanation, which is one of the most absurd in a major motion picture.
Poorly conceived "The Happening" is potential gone bad. Really bad.
Super Reviewer
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- Elliot Moore: Why won't somebody give me a goddamn second?
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- Alma Moore: We ate tiramisu together. That was it. I told you that would be it.
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- Principal: There appears to be an event occurring.
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- Alma Moore: It makes you kill yourself. Just when you thought there couldn't be any more evil that can be invented.
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- Elliot Moore: I'm talking to a plastic plant.
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- Elliot Moore: What? No.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Up there with Silent night, deadly night pat 2... | 22 days ago | 1 |
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Featured
Movie: ID: 770675257 Title: The Happening Release Date: 2008-06-11 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- Phénomènes (FR)
- El incidente (ES)
