"The Happening"

By: Matt Duncan
Coastal View News

Equipped with mountains of talent, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan unfortunately gave his blood-thirsty critics reason to lick their lips when he crafted, “The Happening”: a promising, titillating concept turned sour by poorly executed acting or directing or writing, or maybe a combination of all three.

Droves of people stop dead in their tracks, and then set forth on the most expedient path toward death. “The Happening” opens with a jolt more jarring than the average Shyamalan movie. Movies such as “Signs” or “The Village” each appeared to be of the horror genre when judged by the previews, but turned out to be sci-fi dramas laden with a few jump scenes. Not in keeping with the historic trickery, “The Happening” is truly horrifying.

Something is happening, but no one has the slightest clue why. What is known is that a toxin is changing the brain’s chemistry, altering the human survival instinct, and in fact reversing the effect, causing everyone exposed to the toxin to commit suicide. Scientists, analysts and reporters cycle through countless theories: from terrorist attacks to leaks in nuclear power plants to government testing, but the explanations fall out of favor more quickly than bodies falling from high-rises. The event appears to be relegated to the Northeast United States, where at first large populations are inflicted and then smaller and smaller groups are driven to suicide. The madness is unnerving. Lifeless bodies jump from roofs, small groups of strangers share a dead police officer’s gun and one person lies down in front of a large, churning lawnmower.

Enter Elliot Moore (Mark Walberg), a high school science teacher with atypical accessibility and dedication to his work. When Elliot hears of the event, he, his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), his friend Julian (John Leguizamo) and Julian’s daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) set off together to try and evade the inexplicable. Meanwhile, Elliot attempts to apply the scientific method to gather observations, form a hypothesis, design an experiment…etc., and Julian, a math teacher, applies his trade in statistics to make decisions for the group. However, without much scientific progress, Elliot is forced to face his parting exhortation to his students: although science will always find a story to tell, theories are theories and some things may not ultimately be scientifically explainable. In other words, a coherent explanation of how something could happen is not necessarily the same thing as explaining how it did happen.

Elliot continues to theorize and wonder as the borders of mayhem begin to close in on him, his family and his friends. Some theories seem serviceable, but although the scientific method often guides the group’s action, it leaves them without the hope and security usually associated with cold, hard facts. It is ultimately a crack-pot, conspiracy-theorizing, hot dog-loving old man that puts them on to the truth: that plants are emitting the toxin as a self-defense mechanism. A billboard sign for model homes ironically reading “You deserve this,” offers a thematic harbinger for an environmentalist message. Elliot and his group press on, driven by the very instinct to survive that is absent in those around them.

For the sake of transparency, it is worth mentioning that Shyamalan has an ongoing feud with mainstream film critics. The critics think he has lost the magic he managed to create in “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs,” becoming increasingly whacky and arcane, but ultimately inane. Shyamalan and his fans, on the other hand, brashly claim that the critics simply don’t get it—or refuse to get it. I must admit that I am an entrenched member of the latter group. I have no clue whether other critics just don’t get the ubiquitous symbolism and profound themes, but it is my view that Shyamalan is a nearly matchless master of such devices.

In “The Happening,” Shyamalan questions the scope of scientific inquiry, while at the same time exhorting the audience to shape up before it is too late—with the latter theme being slightly more mundane than the former. Elliot tells his students that there are things science may not be able to explain, but will attempt to explain anyway. As the story unfolds, we are given a somewhat plausible example of an event that scientists and intellectuals fumble and bumble with, yet they do not fail to emphatically assert their own theories as the only logical explanation. The cultural scientific caricature at work in this film is right on the money. Amidst the unending promises and claims of modern science, this is certainly something to talk about.

However, the chic grandeur that typically accompanies Shyamalan’s movies is utterly lacking in “The Happening.” The dialogue is cheesy and awkward throughout most of the film. All in all, for those going into the movie with their eyes open to the deeper themes, it will be like having a meaningful conversation with someone who uses poor grammar and smells funny. Take what you can get from this movie. It is shocking and profound, but with far more potential than was realized.

“The Happening” is rates R for violent and disturbing images.