The Happening (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
The Happening is a 2008 science fiction
thriller film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan
that follows a woman, her husband, the husband's best friend, and the friend's daughter as they try to escape from an inexplicable natural disaster. The plot revolves around a mysterious neurotoxin
that causes anyone exposed to it to commit suicide. The protagonist, a science teacher named Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg
), attempts to escape from the mystery substance with his friends as hysteria grips the East Coast of the United States. It was advertised as being M. Night Shyamalan's first R-rated (or 15 Certificate in the United Kingdom) film and received mostly negative reviews from film critics.
, New York City
people begin committing mass suicide
. After showing disorientation, they kill themselves in a variety of convenient ways. Initially believed to be a bioterrorist attack using an airborne neurotoxin, the behavior quickly spreads across the northeastern United States
, moving from large population centers to smaller areas.
Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg
), a high school science teacher in Philadelphia, hears about the attacks and decides to go to Harrisburg by train with his wife, Alma (Zooey Deschanel
). They are accompanied by his friend Julian (John Leguizamo
) and Julian's eight-year-old daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez
). Julian's wife is stuck in Philadelphia but is expected to meet them in Harrisburg. The train loses all radio contact en route and stops at a small town to let off the passengers.
They receive word that Philadelphia has been attacked and Julian's wife was not able to get on the train to Harrisburg. She hitched a ride to Princeton, New Jersey
instead. Julian decides to go look for her by hitching a ride, leaving his daughter with the Moores. Upon arrival to Princeton, they discover that the town has already been hit by the toxin. They succumb and the driver rams the car into a tree. Julian survives and exits the vehicle. He immediately sits on the ground and begins to cut himself with the car's broken glass.
Elliot, Alma and Jess manage to hitch a ride with a nursery owner (Frank Collison
) and his wife (Victoria Clark
). The nurseryman believes that plants are responsible, as he mentions that they can release chemicals to defend themselves from threats. After driving for some time, they find themselves at a desolate crossroads surrounded by infected towns. They are joined by groups from every direction. One lady hears from her daughter in Princeton
, who confirms everyone is dead, and proceeds to commit suicide herself. A U.S. Army private suggests that they move on foot away from major urban areas to avoid being infected.
The survivors split into two groups, with Elliot, Alma, and Jess in the smaller group. When the larger group is affected by the toxin, Elliot realizes that the nurseryman was right, and figures out the plants are targeting only large groups of people. Elliot splits their group into smaller pockets, isolating himself, Alma, and Jess, as well as two teenage boys, Josh (Spencer Breslin
) and Jared (Robert Bailey, Jr.).
The group comes to an abandoned home and searches for food, only to discover that it is a builder's model home. They leave and watch two other groups making their way onto the property, triggering a neurotoxin attack. Everyone freezes in place, then a man turns on a lawnmower and lies down in its path. The next house they come upon is sealed up, its residents trying to protect themselves from the toxin. Elliot's attempts to reason with them fall on deaf ears, and the teens are killed during their break-in attempts.
Elliot, Alma, and Jess continue to walk cross-country. They stumble upon the isolated house of Mrs. Jones (Betty Buckley
), an elderly eccentric who has no outside contacts and is unaware of the current disaster. Although she permits the trio to stay the night, she is a paranoid host who accuses them of trying to rob or murder her.
The following morning while standing in her garden, Mrs. Jones becomes affected. Realizing that the plants are now targeting individuals, Elliot locks himself in the basement to protect himself. He is separated from Alma and Jess, who are playing in the neighboring spring house. They are able to communicate, however, through an old talking tube, with which Elliot warns them of the threat and has them shut the windows and doors. Conversing with his wife, Elliot expresses his love for her before deciding that if he is to die he would prefer to spend his remaining time with her. The three leave the safety of their buildings and embrace in the yard, surprised to find themselves unaffected by the neurotoxin. The outbreak seems to have abated as quickly as it began.
Three months later, Elliot and Alma have adjusted to their new life with Jess as their adopted daughter. On television an expert, comparing the event to a red tide
, warns that the epidemic may have only been a warning, like "the first spot of a rash". He states that humans have become a threat to the planet and that is why the plants have responded aggressively by releasing the toxins. The television host says that the public would probably believe his theory if another location was impacted by this happening, and not only the northeast. Meanwhile, Elliot takes Jess to the bus stop for her first day of school and Alma stays at home timing a pregnancy test, which turns out positive. When he returns, Alma embraces him with the news in front of their apartment.
The final scenes show the Tuileries Gardens at the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. A scream is heard and everyone freezes in place, as the wind rustles through the trees it fades to black.
1 Shyamalan's character isn't seen
, but his voice is briefly heard on Alma's mobile phone.
entitled The Green Effect to various studios, but none expressed interest enough to purchase it. The director collected ideas and notes from meetings, returning home to Philadelphia to "rewrite" it, and finally 20th Century Fox
greenlit the project. Now titled The Happening, the film was produced by Shyamalan and Barry Mendel
and is the former's first R-rated project.
On March 15, 2007, Shyamalan describes the film as "a paranoia movie from the 1960s on the lines of The Birds
(1963
) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956
)."
Later in March, Wahlberg, with whom Shyamalan had been negotiating at the same time as his deal with Fox, was cast into the lead role of the $57 million project. Shyamalan had previously cast Wahlberg's brother Donnie
in The Sixth Sense
. An India-based company, UTV
, co-financed fifty percent of the film's budget and distributed it in India, while Fox took care of other territories. Production began in August in Philadelphia, with filming on Walnut Street
, in Rittenhouse Square Park, in Masterman High School, and on South Smedley Street. The release date was June 13, 2008, intentionally set for Friday the 13th
to suit the thriller.
reported that 18% gave positive appraisals, based on 168 reviews. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film scored a 34 out of 100, based on 38 reviews.
On June 8, 2008, days before the first few reviews for the film came online, M. Night Shyamalan had this to say to the New York Daily News: "We're making an excellent B movie, that's our goal".
Some critics liked it because of this. In fact, Glenn Whipp said, "Tamping down the self-seriousness in favor of some horrific silliness, M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Happening' plays as a genuinely enjoyable B-movie for anyone inclined (or able) to see it that way".
Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter
said the film lacked "cinematic intrigue and nail-biting tension" and that "the central menace [...] does not pan out as any kind of Friday night entertainment". Variety
’s Justin Chang felt that it "covers territory already over-tilled by countless disaster epics and zombie movies, offering little in the way of suspense, visceral kicks or narrative vitality to warrant the retread". Mick LaSalle at San Francisco Chronicle
felt that the film was entertaining but not scary. He commented, too, on Shyamalan's writing, opining that, "instead of letting his idea breathe and develop and see where it might go, he jumps all over it and prematurely shapes it into a story". Time's
Richard Corliss saw the film as a "dispiriting indication that writer-director M. Night Shyamalan has lost the touch". Chicago Tribune
s Michael Phillips thought the film had a workable premise, but found the characters to be "gasbags or forgetful". Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal
said that the film was a "woeful clunker of a paranoid thriller" and highlighted its "befuddling infelicities, insistent banalities, shambling pace and pervasive ineptitude".
Stephen King
liked the film, stating "Of Fox's two summer creepshows, give the edge to The Happening, partly because M. Night Shyamalan really understands fear, partly because this time he's completely let himself go (hence the R rating), and partly because after Lady in the Water
he had something to prove".
Critic Roger Ebert
, of Chicago Sun-Times
, awarding the movie 3 out of 4 stars, found it oddly touching: "It is no doubt too thoughtful for the summer action season, but I appreciate the quietly realistic way Shyamalan finds to tell a story about the possible death of man". The New York Times
’s Manohla Dargis praised Wahlberg's lead performance, adding that the film "turns out to be a divertingly goofy thriller with an animistic bent, moments of shivery and twitchy suspense". Philipa Hawker of The Age
gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, commenting on "the mood of the film: a tantalising, sometimes frustrating parable about the menaces that human beings might face from unexpected quarters," drawing especial attention to "the sound of the breeze and the sight of it ruffling the trees or blowing across the grass — an image of tension that calls to mind Antonioni
's Blowup
". Richard Roeper
of Chicago Sun-Times stated "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".
The Happening has also attracted academic attention. Joseph J. Foy, professor of politics and popular culture, describes Shyamalan's film as an expression of "post-environmentalism" in which traditional paradigmatic politics are replaced with a call for the world to "embrace a revolutionary reevaluation of wealth and prosperity not in terms of monetary net worth or material possessions, but in terms of overall well-being". Foy praises the highly complex narrative in which Shyamalan weaves contemporary environmental challenges with hard science and social theory to create a "nightmarish future that... may advance the type of dialogue that can truly change the cultural conversation".
The film was nominated for four Razzie Awards: Worst Actor, Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay.
, averaging to about $10,220 per venue, and ranking #3 at the box office, behind The Incredible Hulk
and Kung Fu Panda
. Foreign box office gross for opening weekend was an estimated $32.1 million.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
thriller film written, co-produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...
that follows a woman, her husband, the husband's best friend, and the friend's daughter as they try to escape from an inexplicable natural disaster. The plot revolves around a mysterious neurotoxin
Neurotoxin
A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells , usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels. Some sources are more general, and define the effect of neurotoxins as occurring at nerve tissue...
that causes anyone exposed to it to commit suicide. The protagonist, a science teacher named Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
), attempts to escape from the mystery substance with his friends as hysteria grips the East Coast of the United States. It was advertised as being M. Night Shyamalan's first R-rated (or 15 Certificate in the United Kingdom) film and received mostly negative reviews from film critics.
Plot
In Central ParkCentral Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
people begin committing mass suicide
Mass suicide
- Examples :Mass suicide sometimes occurs in religious or cultic settings. Defeated groups may resort to mass suicide rather than being captured. Suicide pacts are a form of mass suicide unconnected to cults or war that are sometimes planned or carried out by small groups of frustrated people...
. After showing disorientation, they kill themselves in a variety of convenient ways. Initially believed to be a bioterrorist attack using an airborne neurotoxin, the behavior quickly spreads across the northeastern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, moving from large population centers to smaller areas.
Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
), a high school science teacher in Philadelphia, hears about the attacks and decides to go to Harrisburg by train with his wife, Alma (Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
). They are accompanied by his friend Julian (John Leguizamo
John Leguizamo
Jonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
) and Julian's eight-year-old daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez
Ashlyn Sanchez
-Movies:*Crash as Elizabeth*Kill Your Darlings as Meadow*Marrying God as Lola*The Happening as Jess*Universal Signs as Katie-Television:*Charmed as Little Bianca...
). Julian's wife is stuck in Philadelphia but is expected to meet them in Harrisburg. The train loses all radio contact en route and stops at a small town to let off the passengers.
They receive word that Philadelphia has been attacked and Julian's wife was not able to get on the train to Harrisburg. She hitched a ride to Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
instead. Julian decides to go look for her by hitching a ride, leaving his daughter with the Moores. Upon arrival to Princeton, they discover that the town has already been hit by the toxin. They succumb and the driver rams the car into a tree. Julian survives and exits the vehicle. He immediately sits on the ground and begins to cut himself with the car's broken glass.
Elliot, Alma and Jess manage to hitch a ride with a nursery owner (Frank Collison
Frank Collison
Frank Collison is an American actor known to television audiences as the hapless telegrapher Horace Bing in the series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.-Early life:...
) and his wife (Victoria Clark
Victoria Clark
Victoria Clark is an American musical theatre singer and actress. Clark has performed in many Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television work, and her soprano voice can be heard on numerous cast albums and several animated films...
). The nurseryman believes that plants are responsible, as he mentions that they can release chemicals to defend themselves from threats. After driving for some time, they find themselves at a desolate crossroads surrounded by infected towns. They are joined by groups from every direction. One lady hears from her daughter in Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, who confirms everyone is dead, and proceeds to commit suicide herself. A U.S. Army private suggests that they move on foot away from major urban areas to avoid being infected.
The survivors split into two groups, with Elliot, Alma, and Jess in the smaller group. When the larger group is affected by the toxin, Elliot realizes that the nurseryman was right, and figures out the plants are targeting only large groups of people. Elliot splits their group into smaller pockets, isolating himself, Alma, and Jess, as well as two teenage boys, Josh (Spencer Breslin
Spencer Breslin
Spencer Breslin is an American teen actor and musician.-Early life:Breslin was born in New York City, the son of Kim, a personal manager, and Michael Breslin, a telecommunications expert...
) and Jared (Robert Bailey, Jr.).
The group comes to an abandoned home and searches for food, only to discover that it is a builder's model home. They leave and watch two other groups making their way onto the property, triggering a neurotoxin attack. Everyone freezes in place, then a man turns on a lawnmower and lies down in its path. The next house they come upon is sealed up, its residents trying to protect themselves from the toxin. Elliot's attempts to reason with them fall on deaf ears, and the teens are killed during their break-in attempts.
Elliot, Alma, and Jess continue to walk cross-country. They stumble upon the isolated house of Mrs. Jones (Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
), an elderly eccentric who has no outside contacts and is unaware of the current disaster. Although she permits the trio to stay the night, she is a paranoid host who accuses them of trying to rob or murder her.
The following morning while standing in her garden, Mrs. Jones becomes affected. Realizing that the plants are now targeting individuals, Elliot locks himself in the basement to protect himself. He is separated from Alma and Jess, who are playing in the neighboring spring house. They are able to communicate, however, through an old talking tube, with which Elliot warns them of the threat and has them shut the windows and doors. Conversing with his wife, Elliot expresses his love for her before deciding that if he is to die he would prefer to spend his remaining time with her. The three leave the safety of their buildings and embrace in the yard, surprised to find themselves unaffected by the neurotoxin. The outbreak seems to have abated as quickly as it began.
Three months later, Elliot and Alma have adjusted to their new life with Jess as their adopted daughter. On television an expert, comparing the event to a red tide
Red tide
Red tide is a common name for a phenomenon also known as an algal bloom , an event in which estuarine, marine, or fresh water algae accumulate rapidly in the water column and results in discoloration of the surface water. It is usually found in coastal areas...
, warns that the epidemic may have only been a warning, like "the first spot of a rash". He states that humans have become a threat to the planet and that is why the plants have responded aggressively by releasing the toxins. The television host says that the public would probably believe his theory if another location was impacted by this happening, and not only the northeast. Meanwhile, Elliot takes Jess to the bus stop for her first day of school and Alma stays at home timing a pregnancy test, which turns out positive. When he returns, Alma embraces him with the news in front of their apartment.
The final scenes show the Tuileries Gardens at the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. A scream is heard and everyone freezes in place, as the wind rustles through the trees it fades to black.
Cast
- Mark WahlbergMark WahlbergMark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
as Elliot Moore, a high school science teacher from the city of Philadelphia, who is married to Alma. - Zooey DeschanelZooey DeschanelZooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
as Alma Moore, Elliot's wife - John LeguizamoJohn LeguizamoJonathan Alberto "John" Leguizamo is an Colombian-American actor, producer, voice artist, and comedian.-Early life:...
as Julian, a high school math teacher and Elliot's best friend - Ashlyn SanchezAshlyn Sanchez-Movies:*Crash as Elizabeth*Kill Your Darlings as Meadow*Marrying God as Lola*The Happening as Jess*Universal Signs as Katie-Television:*Charmed as Little Bianca...
as Jess, Julian's daughter - Betty BuckleyBetty BuckleyBetty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
as Mrs. Jones, a woman who lives alone in an isolated house in rural Pennsylvania. - Spencer BreslinSpencer BreslinSpencer Breslin is an American teen actor and musician.-Early life:Breslin was born in New York City, the son of Kim, a personal manager, and Michael Breslin, a telecommunications expert...
as Josh, a teenage boy who, with his friend Jared, joins up with Elliot, Alma, and Jess. - Robert Bailey, Jr. as Jared, Josh's friend.
- Frank CollisonFrank CollisonFrank Collison is an American actor known to television audiences as the hapless telegrapher Horace Bing in the series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.-Early life:...
as The Nursery Owner, who believed that plants were causing the events. - Victoria ClarkVictoria ClarkVictoria Clark is an American musical theatre singer and actress. Clark has performed in many Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television work, and her soprano voice can be heard on numerous cast albums and several animated films...
as Nursery Owner's Wife, the wife of the nursery owner. - Jeremy Strong as Private Auster, a Private First Class in the United States Army Military Police Corps who fled from his base after finding all of the soldiers there have killed themselves using barbed wire.
- Brian O'HalloranBrian O'HalloranBrian Christopher O'Halloran is an American actor best known for his roles in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films, notably as Dante Hicks in Smith's debut film Clerks and its 2006 sequel, Clerks II...
as Jeep Driver - Alan RuckAlan RuckAlan Ruck is an American film, stage and television actor, perhaps best known for his roles as Cameron Frye in Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Stuart Bondek on Spin City.-Early life:...
as Principal - M. Night ShyamalanM. Night ShyamalanManoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...
as Joey, a man whom Alma secretly meets1 - Reggie Kania as Reggie, Jared's friend
- Yonathan Parra as Zito, Josh's friend
- Don Castro as Philadelphia Police Officer, a traffic cop in Rittenhouse Square Park
1 Shyamalan's character isn't seen
Unseen character
In fiction, an unseen character is a character that is never directly observed by the audience but is only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in...
, but his voice is briefly heard on Alma's mobile phone.
Soundtrack
The Happening: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. It was released on June 3, 2008.Production
In January 2007, Shyamalan submitted a spec scriptSpec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
entitled The Green Effect to various studios, but none expressed interest enough to purchase it. The director collected ideas and notes from meetings, returning home to Philadelphia to "rewrite" it, and finally 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
greenlit the project. Now titled The Happening, the film was produced by Shyamalan and Barry Mendel
Barry Mendel
Barry Mendel is a film producer. The first film he produced was Rushmore, directed by Wes Anderson which won IFP Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director Anderson and Best Supporting Actor Bill Murray. This was followed by The Sixth Sense, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, which was nominated for...
and is the former's first R-rated project.
On March 15, 2007, Shyamalan describes the film as "a paranoia movie from the 1960s on the lines of The Birds
The Birds (film)
The Birds is a 1963 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the 1952 short story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier. It depicts Bodega Bay, California which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few...
(1963
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
)."
Later in March, Wahlberg, with whom Shyamalan had been negotiating at the same time as his deal with Fox, was cast into the lead role of the $57 million project. Shyamalan had previously cast Wahlberg's brother Donnie
Donnie Wahlberg
Donald Edward "Donnie" Wahlberg, Jr. is an American singer, actor and film producer. He is a member of the popular 1980s and 1990s boy band New Kids on the Block. His work background includes music, feature films, and television...
in The Sixth Sense
The Sixth Sense
The Sixth Sense is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film tells the story of Cole Sear , a troubled, isolated boy who is able to see and talk to the dead, and an equally troubled child psychologist who tries to help him...
. An India-based company, UTV
UTV Software Communications
UTV Software Communications Ltd., also known as United Television or UTV, is an Indian media and entertainment company owned by The Walt Disney Company India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.-History:...
, co-financed fifty percent of the film's budget and distributed it in India, while Fox took care of other territories. Production began in August in Philadelphia, with filming on Walnut Street
Walnut Street (Philadelphia)
Walnut Street is located in downtown Philadelphia and extends from the city's Delaware River waterfront through Center City and West Philadelphia. Walnut Street has been characterized as "the city's premier shopping district"...
, in Rittenhouse Square Park, in Masterman High School, and on South Smedley Street. The release date was June 13, 2008, intentionally set for Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th occurs when the thirteenth day of a month falls on a Friday, which superstition holds to be a day of bad luck. In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year...
to suit the thriller.
Critical reception
The Happening was widely panned by most film critics for its dull plot and performances. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 18% gave positive appraisals, based on 168 reviews. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film scored a 34 out of 100, based on 38 reviews.
On June 8, 2008, days before the first few reviews for the film came online, M. Night Shyamalan had this to say to the New York Daily News: "We're making an excellent B movie, that's our goal".
Some critics liked it because of this. In fact, Glenn Whipp said, "Tamping down the self-seriousness in favor of some horrific silliness, M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Happening' plays as a genuinely enjoyable B-movie for anyone inclined (or able) to see it that way".
Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
said the film lacked "cinematic intrigue and nail-biting tension" and that "the central menace [...] does not pan out as any kind of Friday night entertainment". Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
’s Justin Chang felt that it "covers territory already over-tilled by countless disaster epics and zombie movies, offering little in the way of suspense, visceral kicks or narrative vitality to warrant the retread". Mick LaSalle at San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
felt that the film was entertaining but not scary. He commented, too, on Shyamalan's writing, opining that, "instead of letting his idea breathe and develop and see where it might go, he jumps all over it and prematurely shapes it into a story". Time's
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
Richard Corliss saw the film as a "dispiriting indication that writer-director M. Night Shyamalan has lost the touch". Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
s Michael Phillips thought the film had a workable premise, but found the characters to be "gasbags or forgetful". Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
said that the film was a "woeful clunker of a paranoid thriller" and highlighted its "befuddling infelicities, insistent banalities, shambling pace and pervasive ineptitude".
Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
liked the film, stating "Of Fox's two summer creepshows, give the edge to The Happening, partly because M. Night Shyamalan really understands fear, partly because this time he's completely let himself go (hence the R rating), and partly because after Lady in the Water
Lady in the Water
The soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
he had something to prove".
Critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, of Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
, awarding the movie 3 out of 4 stars, found it oddly touching: "It is no doubt too thoughtful for the summer action season, but I appreciate the quietly realistic way Shyamalan finds to tell a story about the possible death of man". The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
’s Manohla Dargis praised Wahlberg's lead performance, adding that the film "turns out to be a divertingly goofy thriller with an animistic bent, moments of shivery and twitchy suspense". Philipa Hawker of The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars, commenting on "the mood of the film: a tantalising, sometimes frustrating parable about the menaces that human beings might face from unexpected quarters," drawing especial attention to "the sound of the breeze and the sight of it ruffling the trees or blowing across the grass — an image of tension that calls to mind Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
's Blowup
Blowup
Blowup is a 1966 film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, his first English-language film.It tells of a British photographer's accidental involvement with a murder, inspired by Julio Cortázar's short story, "Las babas del diablo" or "The Devil's Drool" , translated also as Blow-Up, and by the life...
". Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper is an American columnist and film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times and now a co-host on The Roe Conn Show on WLS-AM...
of Chicago Sun-Times stated "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".
The Happening has also attracted academic attention. Joseph J. Foy, professor of politics and popular culture, describes Shyamalan's film as an expression of "post-environmentalism" in which traditional paradigmatic politics are replaced with a call for the world to "embrace a revolutionary reevaluation of wealth and prosperity not in terms of monetary net worth or material possessions, but in terms of overall well-being". Foy praises the highly complex narrative in which Shyamalan weaves contemporary environmental challenges with hard science and social theory to create a "nightmarish future that... may advance the type of dialogue that can truly change the cultural conversation".
The film was nominated for four Razzie Awards: Worst Actor, Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay.
Box office performance
On its opening day, The Happening grossed $13 million. Over the weekend, the total gross came in at $30,517,109 in 2,986 theaters in the United States and CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, averaging to about $10,220 per venue, and ranking #3 at the box office, behind The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk (film)
The Incredible Hulk is a 2008 superhero action film based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk. It is directed by Louis Leterrier and stars Edward Norton as Dr. Bruce Banner. It is the second film to be released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
and Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 American computer-animated action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures...
. Foreign box office gross for opening weekend was an estimated $32.1 million.
Home media
As of December 2009, 1,094,000 DVD units have been sold translating to over $21m in revenue.External links
- The Happening Official site
- Script Review of The Green Effect, 01/07/07 draft by LatinoReview.com