The Happening (2008)

New York City, New York 8:33 a.m.: It’s a normal bright and sunny morning in Central Park, but in an instant things begins to change as you hear distant screams and watch active people just stop and stand still as if they are frozen in time. Three blocks away 8:59 a.m.: It’s still a normal morning at a construction site, until crews on the ground helplessly watch in horror as bodies suddenly begin to fall from the sky. Their co-workers high above are literally walking off the job!

 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 9:45 a.m.: High school Science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) has engaged his class to discuss the strange disappearance of the Honey Bees and the laws of Nature when his class is interrupted, and he is lead to a nearby staff meeting. The principal informs them of an "event" and explains that Central Park has just been hit by a terrorist attack. He gives a short briefing about the release of an airborne chemical toxin, and tells them all students are to be dismissed. As school readies to close, Elliot’s best friend, Julian (John Leguizamo) pops in with a plan to get his family out of town and invites Elliot and his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) to join them. They agree to meet at the train station where Julian is already waiting with his young daughter Jess (Ashley Sanchez), his wife is to board a different train and meet them all later at his mother’s house.

News travels through the train as they learn that Philadelphia has just been attacked. Julian calls his wife and she tells him that she made it out in time by catching a bus heading to Princeton, N.J. Alma tells Elliot she just heard that Boston has been hit too, and they realize the train is beginning to slow down. One of the conductors informs Elliot that the train service has just been discontinued as they seem to have lost contact with everyone including rail control, so Filbert Pennsylvania will be the last stop for all passengers. Little Jess becomes frightened as tensions sore, but Elliot is able to calm her after they manage to get a table in the small town’s diner. That sense of calm is short lived as media news reveals that, based on localized reports, authorities no longer believe the event is being caused by terrorists because the incidents seem to be limited to the U.S. Northeast where smaller towns are now being attacked. All calm is then lost in a free-for-all when the power goes out and the crowd disbands in a panicked search for safety. One car pulls up and the driver offers Elliot and his friends a ride, Julian also secures a ride and they are headed to Princeton but, they only have room for one more passenger. With little time for debate Alma and Elliot agree to keep Jess with them while Julian goes on alone to find his wife.

While on one short stop with Elliot’s ride, the driver shares his thoughts on the cause of this strange event, he explains that plants can release chemicals and that they respond to human stimulus. Okay, so yeah, that does sound weird, but it is true!

During the same time but with Julian’s ride, they have reached Princeton. The road ahead takes them through a grim scene with dead bodies hanging from the trees and no other signs of life, it’s obvious Princeton has also been attacked and Julian knows they are in danger as it becomes harder to think and you can hear the wind whipping through the slit in the jeep’s canvas cover.

Back again with Elliot’s ride, they are nearing another small town, the driver stops when they realize dead bodies laying across the road up ahead. They decide to backtrack, but are cut off by other survivors who describe equally horrible sights from their direction. This crowd agrees to break up into smaller groups and head out on foot to seek safety in a less populated area.

It’s really neat and yet still kind of scary to watch this event roll across the land as if it has a mind of it’s own and knows exactly where it’s going.

Suddenly, a few distant screams cease from the group in the rear and we hear several single gun shots slowly ring out, one by one. The event has found them, and Elliot’s group panics and breaks again into even smaller groups as they all run away with nowhere to hide.

My heart sank with anger and sorrow when Josh and Jared needlessly became the first murdered victims. And I nearly fell out of my chair when Mrs. Jones scared the shyt out of me as she popped up from behind the door yelling at Elliot to get out of her house!

Soon it’s down to just Elliot, Alma and Jess outside an old farmhouse where they are somehow able to withstand the brunt of the event.

But, elsewhere in France, it’s HAPPENING again.

This is another very good fictional drama mystery that keeps you guessing as it goes, but there are a few graphic scenes that definitely are not well suited for young children.