The Happening is a divertingly goofy thriller with an animistic bent, moments of shivery and twitchy suspense and a solid lead performance from Mark Wahlberg.
8 Comments
06/12/08
The Happening (2008)
18
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:169
Fresh:31
Rotten:138
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: The Happening begins with promise, but unfortunately descends into an incoherent and unconvincing trifle.
Theatrical Release:13-06-2008
Synopsis: M. Night Shyamalan directs this thriller about a science teacher (Mark Wahlberg) who tries to escape with his wife and friend's daughter after an apocalyptic event. THE HAPPENING costars Zooey... [More]
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Betty Buckley
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Reviews for The Happening
Top CriticThe movie is so inept in terms of coherent, cohesive storytelling and in some other filmmaking aspects that it deserves to be laughed off the screen.
06/12/08
Basically a junior version of sci-fi disaster films ranging from The War of the Worlds (1953) to last year's The Mist
06/12/08
The suicides are mostly very originally staged and creepy as hell...Mark Wahlberg is OK, but a scene where he 'forgives' his wife's indiscretion is just plain weird, as is Zooey Deschanel throughout.
06/12/08
Shyamalan is far better at setup than payoff, and the Sixth Sense director's latest once and for all cements that reputation.
06/12/08
a cold pastiche, neither bloody enough to attract the crowd that hankers for that sort of thing, nor smart enough to attract the crowd that hankers for that
06/12/08
Happening promises a change of pace, but the magic only lasts for a few moments, then it's all open acre isolation, media blackouts, and mysterious threats with extended, mouth-agape pauses.
06/12/08
There are scattered moments of craft throughout, but the gulf between his lofty aspirations and feeble accomplishments has seldom been wider or more chuckle-inducing.
06/12/08
Shyamalan's still trying to take the story seriously—this is, horror of horrors, a message film—but his atypically unmeasured direction is all shock and no awe.
06/12/08
Were the first 45 minutes of The Happening not as rattlingly effective as they are, one could chalk the film up as mediocre. There is such untapped potential, though, that the dishonest places Shyamalan chooses to take his audience are maddening.
06/12/08
You know those meringue cookies that look so tempting on bakery shelves, the ones that evaporate moments after you pop them in your mouth and leave only the vaguest, unmemorable taste behind? That's The Happening.
06/12/08
The Happening stutter-steps its way in this direction and that to a disappointing ending.
06/12/08
Portraying moments of drama and danger with a Hitchcockian lack of ceremony, Shyamalan's mundane depictions of tragedy create a quiet but weighty resonance.
06/12/08
For all his complaints recently about being misunderstood, it seems it's Shyamalan who simply doesn't get us.
06/12/08
This would all seem like a deliberate, self-parodying joke if it weren't coming from a filmmaker with no sense of humor whatsoever.
06/12/08
As for The Happening, his throwback horror flick that plays like The Birds meets The Blob, it's beyond good and evil. It's dumbfounding.
06/12/08
There seem to be a lot of people gunning for Philadelphia's own M. Night Shyamalan, and The Happening will give them more ammo.
06/12/08
The Happening wants to scare us without providing a cause -- a trick only Hitchcock has managed.
06/12/08
Instead of shocks, we get moments of tension, suspense and violence between stretches of running scared. Nothing wrong with that, except that the stretches are awfully long in places. And in the end, it all comes to not much.
06/12/08
Excluding moments of chilling effectiveness, this could fairly be called his worst film. Even his saving grace of keen directorial acumen visibly loses cohesion on screen.
06/12/08
Latest News for The Happening
January 21, 2009:
Razzies Name 2008's Worst Movie Nominees
No awards season would be complete without the Golden Raspberry Awards (AKA The Razzies), awarded each year to the very worst movies to hit Hollywood. This year's winners will... More...
July 06, 2008:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Hancock shows some attitude at the box office
Despite a critical panning, Hancock scores at the Box Office. More...
June 19, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Get Smart Spies Top Spot
Two big star-driven studio comedies invade North American multiplexes on Friday giving audiences even more choices during what has been a scorching hot June box office. Steve... More...
June 16, 2008:
WNYC RADIO: A numbing polemical morality tale in dreary doomsday thriller clothing, this dull downer for all its mass panic attack high alert mode, may be more effective in unintentionally boring people to death. 
More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds