"Mother of god, what kind of terrorists are these?"

In New York City, people begin to commit mass suicide, believed to be a terrorist attack using an airborne neurotoxin. In Philadelphia, high school teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) and his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) decide to leave. On the way, they learn the mass suicides are spreading quickly through the United States ...

The Happening is a science-fiction thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

This movie is the second in Shyamalan's 'weak creative period', so to speak. Once again, however, he starts with an interesting, intriguing, very promising premise, and the first 30 minutes are actually really, really good.

Unfortunately, the explanation - which comes surprisingly soon - isn't that strong and leads to a variety of unintentionally hilarious moments. If Shyamalan had kept up the dread and unease of the first half hour, The Happening could've been much better.

What drags the movie down even more, however, is its equally unintentionally funny dialogue, quite often delivered by Wahlberg, who's unfortunately unable to make his exposition convincing.

It's still a solid film, and its simplicity works very much in its favor. I did enjoy the gruesome moments, though, which do, in fact, inject a good bit of dread into the movie.

In conclusion, The Happening certainly is a weak entry in Shyamalan's filmography. However, it's rightfully reevaluated as the modern sci-fi B-movie it is and can be viewed - and enjoyed - as such.

Rankings
M. Night Shyamalan's films