Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Happening

  • 20082008
  • RR
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
5.0/10
210K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,570
48
Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)
This is the second theatrical trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening.
Play trailer2:30
9 Videos
55 Photos
AdventureDramaSci-Fi
A science teacher, his wife, and a young girl struggle to survive a plague that causes those infected to commit suicide.A science teacher, his wife, and a young girl struggle to survive a plague that causes those infected to commit suicide.A science teacher, his wife, and a young girl struggle to survive a plague that causes those infected to commit suicide.
IMDb RATING
5.0/10
210K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,570
48
    • M. Night Shyamalan
    • M. Night Shyamalan
  • Stars
    • Mark Wahlberg
    • Zooey Deschanel
    • John Leguizamo
    • M. Night Shyamalan
    • M. Night Shyamalan
  • Stars
    • Mark Wahlberg
    • Zooey Deschanel
    • John Leguizamo
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 1.5KUser reviews
    • 356Critic reviews
    • 34Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos9

    The Happening: Theatrical Trailer #2
    Trailer 2:30
    Watch The Happening: Theatrical Trailer #2
    Cowboys! Detectives! Giant Bugs! B-Movie History!
    Clip 5:23
    Watch Cowboys! Detectives! Giant Bugs! B-Movie History!
    The Happening
    Clip 1:00
    Watch The Happening
    The Happening
    Clip 0:42
    Watch The Happening
    The Happening
    Clip 0:33
    Watch The Happening
    The Happening
    Clip 1:02
    Watch The Happening
    The Happening
    Interview 0:47
    Watch The Happening
    The Happening
    Interview 0:41
    Watch The Happening
    The Happening
    Interview 0:51
    Watch The Happening

    Photos55

    Zooey Deschanel and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)
    Mark Wahlberg in The Happening (2008)
    Zooey Deschanel in The Happening (2008)
    Mark Wahlberg, Betty Buckley, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)
    Mark Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)
    On the run in 'The Happening'
    Mark Wahlberg in The Happening (2008)
    Mark Wahlberg, John Leguizamo, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)
    Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)
    Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)
    Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)
    Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Mark Wahlberg
    Mark Wahlberg
    • Elliot Moore
    Zooey Deschanel
    Zooey Deschanel
    • Alma Moore
    John Leguizamo
    John Leguizamo
    • Julian
    Ashlyn Sanchez
    Ashlyn Sanchez
    • Jess
    Betty Buckley
    Betty Buckley
    • Mrs. Jones
    Spencer Breslin
    Spencer Breslin
    • Josh
    Robert Bailey Jr.
    Robert Bailey Jr.
    • Jared
    Frank Collison
    Frank Collison
    • Nursery Owner
    Jeremy Strong
    Jeremy Strong
    • Private Auster
    Alan Ruck
    Alan Ruck
    • Principal
    Victoria Clark
    Victoria Clark
    • Nursery Owner's Wife
    M. Night Shyamalan
    M. Night Shyamalan
    • Joey
    • (voice)
    Alison Folland
    Alison Folland
    • Woman Reading on Bench with Hair Pin
    Kristen Connolly
    Kristen Connolly
    • Woman Reading on Bench
    Cornell Womack
    Cornell Womack
    • Construction Foreman
    Curtis McClarin
    • Construction Crew Member
    Robert Lenzi
    Robert Lenzi
    • Jake
    Derege Harding
    • Train Conductor
      • M. Night Shyamalan
      • M. Night Shyamalan
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    The Village
    6.6
    The Village
    Signs
    6.8
    Signs
    Lady in the Water
    5.5
    Lady in the Water
    Unbreakable
    7.3
    Unbreakable
    The Visit
    6.2
    The Visit
    After Earth
    4.8
    After Earth
    Glass
    6.6
    Glass
    Devil
    6.3
    Devil
    Old
    5.8
    Old
    The Sixth Sense
    8.2
    The Sixth Sense
    Praying with Anger
    4.5
    Praying with Anger
    Split
    7.3
    Split

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Mark Wahlberg admitted that he regrets working on this movie, but said, "You can't blame me for wanting to try to play a science teacher. At least I wasn't playing a cop or a crook."
    • Goofs
      (at around 58 mins) A man refuses to let Elliot and his companions into his house because he does not want to let the "poison gas" inside. However, all the house's windows are open.
    • Quotes

      Mrs. Jones: Planning on stealing something?

      Elliot Moore: No, ma'am, we're not.

      Mrs. Jones: Plan on murdering me in my sleep?

      Elliot Moore: What? No!

    • Crazy credits
      Moving clouds form the backdrop for the opening and closing credits. On the end credits, they've become stormclouds with lightning. On the end credits, M. Night Shyamalan's name vanishes.
    • Alternate versions
      German version was edited prior to submission to the FSK by the director himself to secure a "Not under 16" rating. These cuts included:
      • a needle piercing a throat during a suicide
      • a man's arm being bitten off by lions
      • a man dying under a lawnmower This version was released on DVD in the UK. However, for the German home video release the complete version was submitted. Ironically, this version was rated "Not under 16" as well (making the cut version even more redundant as guidelines for home video are stronger than for theatrical releases).
    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: The Incredible Hulk/The Promotion/You Don't Mess with the Zohan/The Happening/Baghead (2008)
    • Soundtracks
      Black Water
      Written by Patrick Simmons

    User reviews1.5K

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    4/10
    It might be cliché, but it has to be said: The Happening is not happening.
    Shyamalan has proved to us earlier that he can be as good as the best with masterpieces of cinema with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Yet, since then, he has declined steadily. Signs and Village were good movies, but with Lady in the Water and now The Happening, he has touched a level of incompetence that could never have been expected of him.

    The Happening is about a pandemic that is gripping north-eastern USA. It starts with a stunning sequence of events that show people succumb to an unspecified threat – the brilliance of this opening repeated only once more for a five-minute sequence towards the end of the movie. Unfortunately, Shyamalan's writing is a big let-down for the rest. As the focus moves from metropolitans to towns and from crowds to smaller groups, the sense of fear is lost – the biggest sin a horror movie can commit. In the oft repeated criticism for its director, this movie would have been best served as a half-hour episode of Twilight Zone to make it really work.

    And to add woe, the actors do not do much to better the experience – Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel are grossly miscast as the protagonists. Any of his previous leading men (Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix and Paul Giamatti) can be imagined to have done a better job for the Science teacher that Wahlberg plays. The camera scrutinizes the performance to a degree that requires an actor with strength in emotions – Wahlberg instead brings a physical presence that the role does not need. Zooey, on the other hand, struts around like in a Disney movie, not for once threatened by the pandemonium.

    This time, though Shyamalan humbles his vanity – you don't see him on screen. He now should swallow his pride and leave the writing to the writers. Armed with a better script, we can still expect Shyamalan to make his future movies worth waiting for. For now it is only the memory of the opening sequence, which can be proclaimed as mind-numbing greatness, which is really worth taking away from this movie.
    helpful•497
    368
    • shariqq
    • Jun 12, 2008

    FAQ14

    • Is "The Happening" based on a book?
    • What is the Happening?
    • What is causing the Happening?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 13, 2008 (United States)
      • India
      • United States
      • Official site
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • G-Lodge Diner - 1371 Valley Forge Road, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, USA
    • Production companies
      • Twentieth Century Fox
      • UTV Motion Pictures
      • Spyglass Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 31 minutes
      • Color
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez in The Happening (2008)
    Top Gap
    What is the streaming release date of The Happening (2008) in Canada?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.