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

184 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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M M

Hilariously bad, but if you make it to the penultimate scene - no reason for anyone to go outside while it's windy. Especially the kid. Has a real "how do we end this?" vibe.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

08/24/25

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Siren C

For context .. I am writing this review whilst watching the film. I had never heard of this film and I understood why after the first 20minutes. Good cast however the acting itself is terrible. Plot makes no sense and there are multiple sub storyline’s for no real reason. I am now an hour and 19 minutes in and I still don’t really know what the point of this film is. If you’re a fan of Mark Wahlberg, save yourself an hour and 30minutes by not watching this film.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/16/25

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Tim A.

Literal worst movie of all time.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/15/25

Full Review

Jessica L

I don’t understand the dislike, I thought it was a good watch. It’s a steady movie, it makes you think. It picks up every now and again but I was pretty glued to the screen the whole movie. However, there were those moments that made me cringe but not bad enough to make me turn off the movie.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/14/25

Full Review

Andrew P

In every possible way this movie was terrible. From the most ridiculously poor script to the wooden performances to the crazily daft plot - this film will leave you open mouthed...at just how truly bad it is!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/26/25

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Everett G

The happening is a awful film with terrible writing terrible dialogue terrible characters terrible acting terrible direction everything please don’t watch this crap

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

07/20/25

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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