The Happening,M. Night Shyamalan’s “nature is bad” horror film from 2008 has found a new home on Hulu. The film, which was added to the streamer’s library just in time for the spooky season, isclimbing up the charts of the streaming service, and it shows no signs of stopping.
The Happeninghas been climbing up the Hulu chartand peaked at No.3 before slipping a little to No.8. While these positions fluctuate a lot, Shyamalan has found love on the streamer from viewers who must have forgotten the film’s initial reception and are up for a revisit.
The Happeningcenters around a high school science teacher named Elliot Moore who, alongside his wife Alma and a colleague who manages to grab his daughter, decides to go on the run after something truly bizarre begins happening to the population: for no apparent reason, they decide to commit mass suicide. At first, Elliot believes it’s a terrorist attack, of course, and that a neurotoxin has been released. But eventually, the group realizes this is a masterplan carried out byplants who have developed an airborne defense toxinthat causes humans to kill themselves.
The seventh film by M. Night Shyamalan was critically panned.While it had a decent box office performance, critics were not very kind to it.The Happeningcurrently sits at an 18% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The Popcornmeter, formerly known as the Audience score, has it at 24%.
It’s a good time for horror movies and the plethora of fans who celebrate the year’s most important month for horror releases and rewatches. Many of the streamers plan their licensing budgets and make sure they get horror classics (from every corner of the horror universe) up in their libraries.It’s not a coincidence that Shyamalan’s horror flop, which isn’t exactly a classic, has been gathering some attention since Hulu added it to its catalog.
But is Shyamalan’s The Happening Really That Bad?
Viewers won’t likely change their minds about The Happening, but perhaps Shyamalan’s eco-horror film isn’t that bad. In fact, if you’re open-minded, you could be in tune with what Shyamalan said back then.When it came out, the director seemed proud becauseThe Happeningwas an “excellent B-movie.“Considering the second half of his career and thecritical reception of his recent films, we don’t know if all his films are intended to be B movies.
Every M. Night Shyamalan Movie, Ranked by Letterboxd
According to those viewers and their reviews on Letterboxd, here’s how Shyamalan’s films stack up.
One of the things the film was most criticized for was Mark Wahlberg’s performance as Elliot Moore. It’s silly and goofy, and taking the film seriously while witnessing Wahlberg’s facial expressions is a challenge. The performance by Zooey Deschanel isn’t exactly the best in her career.
However, Shyamalan nails some of the aspects of the film. The acting may not be the best, but you can’t deny that some of the kills are nightmare fuel. AsStephen King saidin regards toThe Happening:“M. Night Shyamalan really understands fear.“This is proven in suicide sequences like the one with construction workers jumping off a building or the kill with a hairpin. That one stays. Forever.
The Happening
