Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
When a deadly airborne virus threatens to wipe out the northeastern United States, teacher Elliot Moore and his wife Alma flee from contaminated cities into the countryside in a fight to discover the truth. Is it terrorism, the accidental release of some toxic military bio weapon -- or something even more sinister?
The Happening has a genuinely intriguing ecological horror premise — plants releasing a neurotoxin that triggers mass suicide — that earns some Novelty credit for its strange, unsettling concept and Shyamalan's willingness to craft an R-rated nature-as-villain thriller. However, the execution collapses almost everywhere else. The plot devolves into a meandering, logic-free chase with no satisfying mystery resolution. The acting is widely regarded as one of cinema's most notorious misfires — Mark Wahlberg's flat, bewildered delivery and the stilted dialogue from all cast members make scenes unintentionally comedic. Cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable, occasionally capturing eerie wide shots of mass death but never elevating the material. The ending is abrupt and unsatisfying, offering a pseudo-resolution that raises more questions than it answers and then tacks on an epilogue that undermines any tension built. A film with an interesting core idea squandered by nearly every craft element around it.