Movie Information
Overall Rank: 23463
Average Rating: 1.9/4
# of Ratings: 177
Theatrical Release Date: 06/13/2008
Blu-ray/DVD Release Date: 10/07/2008
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating: R
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Actors: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, Spencer Breslin, John Leguizamo, Victoria Clark, Ashlyn Sanchez
Plot: A thriller about how the world has released a mysterious disease, toxin, or otherwise - which causes a possible apocalypse. The film follows a family who is on the run from the effects and the future of the earth.
Watch Trailer
Add to List
Request Correction
Write Plot
Write Review Quick Reviews
Full Reviews
Movie Lists
Movie Talk
Quick Movie Reviews
Rating of
1/4
Matthew Brady - wrote on 01/26/2014
A thriller about how the world has released a mysterious disease, toxin, or otherwise - which causes a possible apocalypse. The film follows a family who is on the run from the effects and the future of the earth. This movie is so Bad that it is so funny, M. Night Shyamalan is the worst part about this movie he made Mark Wahlberg a Bad actor and Zooey Deschanel a Bad actress too.
Rating of
3/4
dukeakasmudge - wrote on 09/07/2011
After hearing so many bad reviews for this film, I expected to HATE this movie but I enjoyed it,It was definitely something different.The only thing I HATED was Mark Wahlbergs acting
Rating of
1/4
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 07/26/2011
Sixth Sense is a classic, Signs was decent, and the Happening is one M. Night Shyamalan's nightmares. It was captivating at first, it’s just the plot, characters and story was not that interesting in the end. The dialogue was so lame. He can shoot, but he can’t write effective scripts. If only he can get a better screenplay writer for his talent, then maybe things would change. The message was there, it just wasn’t conveyed creatively.
Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
2/4
"The Happening" by yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/25/2012
When an unidentified airborne contageon causes people to kill and mutilate themselves in vast numbers, a small group of friends flee the city to find refuge. There's something about the modern disaster movie that means everyone making them seems to forget to attach an ending. I Am Legend, 28 Days Later, The Day After Tomorrow, the list goes on. MNS's crack at the genre chooses to make the aggressor invisible which COULD have worked (I suppose...) but it felt like a "spot the zombie" competition where there was an apocalypse but the apocalypse seemed to forget to show up. I must admit I was almost glad that one of his trademark "twists" didn't come lumbering over the horizon, and the scenes of mass suicide and self harm were effectively creepy, but in a film like this you need a pay off …
Rating of
0.5/4
Not Happening
DarkCritic - wrote on 01/06/2010
"It started so suddenly and ended so suddenly."
That quote right there explains everything. Movies that have a story that starts suddenly and end suddenly really have no plot or story depth, which is a shame, because the idea for The Happening could have been presented better than it was. The idea for the story was good, but there was no "there" there.
The characters, as well as the movie, lacked. I didn't know that some of those actors could act that badly. Although, I am reminded of how beautiful Zooey's eyes are during the movie. I loved the emotion that Zooey portrayed during the movie, but I didn't care for the rest of the acting. Overall, the acting was terrible.
Really, the thing I hated was the lack of answers. "Oh, everyone's dying and we have no idea what's going on." …
Rating of
1/4
Shymalan is still making terrible movies!
TommyL31 - wrote on 04/17/2009
Is crap-tastic a word? Cause if not, it should be. M. Night Shyamalan served up a royal piece of crap for this one. I went to it because the idea sounded interesting, the trailer made it sound decent (even if it had limited appeal), and Mark Wahlberg was in it and he can do a pretty decent job if given a good role.
Basic premise of the movie: Humans have a basic instinct to protect themselves from harm. What if there's some sort of highly contagious epidemic (possibly biological weapons) that reverse this instinct and make people start killing themselves.
What went wrong: Quite simply, the writing was terrible. Mark Wahlberg's first scene as a teacher in a classroom sounds like it was written by a third grader who just learned what global warming is. The entire movie's plot is …
Related Movie Lists
Recent Movie Talk Posts
12345 - wrote on 2008-11-30 22:15
i agree that the happening is funny. if only it was supposed to be
Carin - wrote on 2008-11-24 01:10
See, I kind of liked the Happening. I saw it in theaters and it was really tense and pretty creepy. Parts of it were downright stupid, but the movie itself seemed way more grown-up than other horror movies. I don't know why it's so cool to hate on M. Night Shyamalan. He's a good filmmaker. It doesn't matter that he's full of himself, everybody in Hollywood is. Even Lady in the Water's a good movie. It's not great, but to say Lady in the Water or the Village, or the Happening are bad movies …
kevinator815 - wrote on 2008-10-29 16:49
I actually liked this movie and the aproach of the film and the angles. It was done in a very old horror movie way...
Alex - wrote on 2008-10-25 00:11
Yeah.  He has definitely gone down hill.  Has anyone heard about what his next disappointing project will be?
Bashtastic! - wrote on 2008-10-21 15:15
I have come to the conclusion that I HATE M. Knight Shama-ham-sandwich movies. Every time a new one comes out, I see the preview and go, "WOW! That looks awesome! I'll definitely go see that!" Then I do, and I end up leaving the theater very angry, muttering, "damn him...he tricked me again..." I won't say which of his movies I prefer, because quite frankly I think they all suck. They always have the potential to be very entertaining, but his idiotic twists always leave me smacking myself in …
