There are some creepy moments but overall The Happening is a bit of a non-event.
Comment
06/20/08
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.
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
US Box Office: $64,384,941
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 a bummer, from beginning to end.
06/13/08
Top CriticExcluding 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
Top CriticAnother disappointment from M, despite some disturbing violence and chilly moments.
06/13/08
Top CriticWhile hardly his worst work, this film is so far off his high water mark that it begs the question of whether M. Night Shyamalan will ever truly return.
06/13/08
Top CriticMaybe Shyamalan has been plugged into those other worlds for too long. Judging from what is on offer here, he needs to become more acquainted with the emotional language of this one.
06/13/08
Top CriticA tantalising, sometimes frustrating parable about the menaces that human beings might face from unexpected quarters.
06/13/08
Top CriticSadly for Mr. Shyamalan, the ideas that have been coming to him since his brilliant first hit The Sixth Sense are progressively worthy of less merit and more deserving of ridicule.
06/10/08
Top CriticMark Wahlberg's sturdy performance saves The Happening from becoming a protracted Saturday Night Live spoof of M. Night Shyamalan movies.
06/20/08
While there are certainly ideas behind it, the film lacks the bloated self-importance that plagued the director's last two efforts. This time, Shyamalan seems content merely to entertain us, and that's enough.
06/14/08
Other than its ripe possibility for mockery, I cannot think of anything that makes the film really worthwhile.
06/18/08
For Night, The Happening is a little blip on his career flatline. The guy just may pull through.
06/16/08
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
The shock value wears off quickly and writer-director Shyamalan strands us in a boring cautionary tale with an infantile eco-message about humanity needing to live in harmony with nature -- or else.
06/13/08
The M. Knight brilliance is there in quick jolts of suspense and terror, but those moments are the exception in this otherwise flat little thriller.
07/11/08
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 wants the rustling of wind through greenery to evoke the same shudders in The Happening that the gathering of birds did in Hitchcock's The Birds
06/13/08
Not a complete return to form (by far), but also not a failure. Let's be fair--this is the best film Shyamalan has put out in years.
06/13/08
If you have seen the trailers online or on T.V., you can just save your money and wait for the rental on this one. All of the best moments are in the promos.
06/13/08
Someday someone will stop bankrolling Shyamalan's dumb dreams and keep this kind of tripe from happening.
06/15/08
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
40 Best Films of the 2000s
Last week, Moviefone offered us their worst films of the 2000s. Now see their 40 best!
Worst Hollywood Remakes of the Decade
Movieline gets bravely swept away with the recycled refuse of the 2000s.
Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter
Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.
Competitions
Win Fantastic Mr. Fox prizes
Tickets and more to win for the forthcoming Wes Anderson film
IGN RSS Feeds