2008 The Happening

On a nice sunny day in Central Park, people are out enjoying the weather, walking, skating, running or just sitting. Two women are sitting on a bench reading a book. One hears a noise and looks around. She notices people are acting odd and comments this to her friend who ignores her. The second woman looks up from her book with a blank expression and then pulls her hair pin and jams it into her neck.

Three blocks away, a group of construction workers are taking a breaking,telling jokes. Suddenly a body falls from above. They rush to the victim but as they are attended this victim, another body lands behind them. They turn to look and are stunned that there were two identical accidents at the same time. Then another body falls. One construction worker peers out from beneath the scaffold and sees many more bodies falling.

This is the opening sequence for M. Night Shayamalan’s The Happening starring Mark Mahlberg as Elliot Moore, Zooey Deschanel as Alma Moore, John Leguizamo as Julian and Ashlyn Sanchez as Jess.

At Philadelphia High School, Elliot Moore is teaching his science class when he is abruptly pulled out of his class. All the teachers assemble and are told that there has been a terror attack in New York. Classes are dismissed and as Julian leaves, he invites Elliot and his wife, Alma, to come out to his parents house. Elliot and and Alma meet Julian and his daughter Jess at the train station and the four of them leave for Julian’s parent’s  house.

In Rittenhouse Park, Philadelphia, a cop is walking/working his beat. He stops to talk to a familiar cab driver. Suddenly the police officer takes out his revolver and shoots himself. The cab driver emerges from his vehicle, picks up the gun and shoots himself. A professionally dressed woman walk walks over to the gun and picks it up….

Back on the train, Elliot, Julian and Alma all receive word that Philadelphia has been attack. Julian’s wife, being stuck in traffic, was suppose to have been on a train leaving after his. In a panic and the persistence of his daughter, he calls his wife. She got on a bus headed for Princeton.

The passenger train stops unexpectedly in Filbert, Pennsylvania. Elliot goes to talk with the conductors and told that they would not be going any further since they’ve lost contact. “With who?” he ask. “Everyone.”

The passengers end up in a small diner where they receive more startling news. There was another attack at the Philadelphia Zoo and the news reports indicate it is not a terrorists attack. The patrons realize they are in the middle of the attack zones and one in group tells them that they would be safer about 90 miles away. The patrons all head for the safe zone. Elliot is finally able to find transportation for everyone but Julian tells him that he’s gotten a ride with a group headed for Princeton (where is wife is suppose to be.) Fearing for his daughter’s safety, he leaves Jess with Elliot and Alma.

When Julian’s group reaches Princeton, Julian is the first to realize that Princeton has also been attack by the strange event. As they drive down the road, the passengers can see bodies hanging from nearby trees. When a female in the jeep panics, Julian tries to distract her but in the end, the group cannot escape.

Elliot, Alma and Jess are not having much luck escaping and find themselves surrounded by reported cases of the strange event. It’s a race against time for Elliot, his wife and Jess as they try to find a way to survive and discover what is Happening.

I think I’m in love with this movie and I can’t say that about all of  M. Night Shayamalan’s work. The Happening is one that I think he got right. This is truly a creepy  horror movie and it doesn’t have monsters, bad guys or serial killers running through the woods trying to kill you, nor does it spray your television screen with blood. The movie tells a story in such a way that the audience is just as much in the dark as the characters on the screen. And as we move through the story, we (the audience and characters) are discovering things at the same time. That I think is what  makes this movie good. Let’s face it, who isn’t afraid of the unknown?

I give The Happening 5 out of 5 bloody stumps up. I like the pacing, acting and direction of this movie.  And I just have to added that it’s appropriately named.