The Happening

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The Happening

R

Released Jun 13, 2008

1h 31m

Sci-Fi

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

17%

Tomatometer

185 Reviews

24%

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250,000+ Ratings

An apocalyptic threat to humanity arrives out of the clear blue sky with a series of violent, inexplicable deaths spreading across the country. The cause of the terrifying phenomenon remains unknown, prompting science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) and his colleague Julian (John Leguizamo) to try to elude the invisible killer in Pennsylvania's farmland. Soon it becomes clear that no one is safe.

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Critics Consensus

The Happening begins with promise, but unfortunately descends into an incoherent and unconvincing trifle.

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Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

For reasons still unknown, Shyamalan wrote the dialogue this stiffly, and instructed his performers to act like they'd never said words or interacted with each other before.

Jan 30, 2017

Full Review

Chris Stuckmann

ChrisStuckmann.com

The Happening is his first hilariously awful film.

Rated: C

Apr 17, 2015

Full Review

Nigel Floyd

Time Out

At first, a great deal happens, then nothing much happens for quite some time, then something so underwhelming happens that one is left wondering, 'Did that really just happen?'

Rated: 2/5

Nov 16, 2011

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

The handful of visually unsettling sequences fail to make up for the complete absurdity of the premise and performances.

Rated: 1/5

Sep 20, 2023

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The result is a promising idea realized with a laughable amount of hokum.

Rated: 1.5/4

Sep 6, 2023

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Sean Price

The Spool

But suppose you squint your eyes and pretend it’s a satirical comedy. In that case, it turns from an all-time debacle to one of the most unintentionally funny (and prescient) horror comedies of the 21st century.

Feb 24, 2023

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Jah F

An underrated film that hits home in exploring the power of perception and spontaneous panic, as well as the power of groupthink. It's a bit of a low key film, in many ways, but that actually plays to it's favor, as the events, as significant and startling as they are, play against a back drop that truly feels like life as it's actually lived. It stands as a strong juxtaposition to the over-the-top crisis thrillers that often fail to address the human condition.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/26/24

Full Review

Luis c

I'm very confused with the ratings on here. I thought it was a absolute amazing movie. Night's 2nd best movie behind Signs imo !

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/16/24

Full Review

Carlotta V

Air-headed idea. It's ludicrous. There are a couple of good jolts at the beginning, but it devolves immediately, with truly inane dialogue, some spectacularly lousy acting, (and a mannequin/ zombie like performance from Zoey Deschanel) and while all the chaos is around them, it gets more and more ridiculous and dare I say stupid as it goes along. It's what the German's call a Ka-Ka Fest.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/13/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Good Little Movie IMO

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

10/09/24

Full Review

Liam D

M Night’s worst movie. It fails as an Disaster Thriller but it is an hilarious unintentional comedy

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/06/24

Full Review

Daniel J

If the worst movie ever made were actually the best movie ever made then this would be the best movie ever made. The only good thing about it is that it eventually ends.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

09/25/24

Full Review

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M. Night Shyamalan

Director

Mark Wahlberg

Elliot Moore

Zooey Deschanel

Alma Moore

John Leguizamo

Julian

Betty Buckley

Mrs. Jones

Ashlyn Sanchez

Jess

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Synopsis

An apocalyptic threat to humanity arrives out of the clear blue sky with a series of violent, inexplicable deaths spreading across the country. The cause of the terrifying phenomenon remains unknown, prompting science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) and his colleague Julian (John Leguizamo) to try to elude the invisible killer in Pennsylvania's farmland. Soon it becomes clear that no one is safe.

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Producer: M. Night Shyamalan, Sam Mercer, Barry Mendel
Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Blinding Edge Pictures
Rating: R (Violent and Disturbing Images)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 13, 2008, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $64.5M
Runtime: 1h 31m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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