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Film

London,

The Happening

Cert: 15

Description: Philadelphia high school teacher Elliot Moore learns of a series of chilling episodes in major American cities via the news. People are committing suicide en masse and no one is sure of the cause: a terrorist attack, an invisible toxic weapon, otherworldly interference? Consumed with fear, Elliot heads for the safety of the Pennsylvanian farmlands with his estranged wife Alma, teacher friend Julian and his eight-year-old daughter Jess. However, they all quickly realise that nothing can stop the invisible killer that seems destined to wipe out mankind.



Rating: 1 out of 5 Derek Malcolm's rating
Rating: 3 out of 5

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Dir: M Night Shyamalan.

Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo

Country: US.

Year: 2008.

Duration: 90mins

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Toxic virus that killed The Happening

The Happening
No escape: Mark Wahlberg and Zoey Deschanel on the run from a deadly plague

By Derek Malcolm
12 Jun 2008


M Night Shyamalan, who made the highly successful Sixth Sense, seems to have completely lost his bearings with this totally unconvincing melodrama.

An American family is on the run from an inexplicable toxic virus that has erupted in major cities. They hit the road and head for the Pennsylvania farmlands — but there appears to be no escape from the bug.

Good actors like Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo wander about, emoting a dreadful screenplay and negotiating a plot that pushes them this way and that without attaining any real sense of menace.

It looks like a tepid horror movie from someone to whom Roger Corman mistakenly gave a little money but instantly regretted it. A dreadful mistake all round.

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