This week on Netflix Movie Friday I’m going to discuss the Thiller/Horror movie “The Happening”.

M. Night Shyamalan, responsible for movies such as Signs, The Village, and the ever popular Bruce Willis flick Sixth Sense, brings us yet another chapter in his writing/directing role with The Happening. Shyamalan’s brand of dramatic endgame twists is featured in this movie, however the twist this time, no pun intended, is that it happens only moments after the movie starts.

The film starts off in a park with just everyone in their humdrum activities when suddenly a mind-altering phenomenon takes control of everyone which then causes them to commit suicide. The film then switches to Elliot Moore, played by Mark Walhlberg, a high school science teacher who seems to be the charismatic type. The story continues as everyone starts suspecting of a terrorist attack. An evacuation of the city occurs as everyone attempts to flee whatever is attacking people. At the risk of not spoiling the film and it’s crazy plot.

Because there is no distinct antagonist there is a ton of face shots of the main characters. While I don’t complain when Elliot’s wife Alma, played by Zooey Deschanel is on screen, but there’s only so much face time one can have of Wahlburg or John Lequizamo.

One of the best parts of the movie is the music of the movie. The presentation of the eerie mood musics is fantastic. It’s a great setting for a thriller movie. However, the film itself does not do the music justice. Which leads to the rest of the movie.

The film itself is easily described as a thriller/horror movie. Unfortunately for the film it doesn’t really seem to do either concept well. It the basic concept of the movie would have been much better had it been a basic suspense film. Writing is also an issue as there is a ton of explanations of the attack even though the obvious answer is explained. The character interactions between Wahlberg and Deschanel’s characters are flaky at best. The newly wed couple seems to have issues of trust themselves as secrets seem to be kept from one another.

Overall, The Happening seems to be yet another sort of social commentary movie about how we are treating the earth and what the after effects are. At it’s very best, The Happening isn’t a terrible movie but when it comes down to it, it doesn’t really bring anything new to the party either.


Netflix Predicted Rating: 1.6/5
My Rating: 2/5