Synopsis
When a deadly airborne virus threatens to wipe out the northeastern United States, teacher Elliott Moore and his wife Alma flee from contaminated cities into the countryside in a fight to discover the truth. Is it terrorism, the accidental release of some toxic military bio weapon -- or something even more sinister?
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Cast
- Mark WahlbergElliot Moore
- Zooey DeschanelAlma Moore
- John LeguizamoJulian
- Ashlyn SanchezJess
- Betty BuckleyMrs. Jones
- Spencer BreslinJosh
- Robert Bailey Jr.Jared
- Frank CollisonNursery Owner
- Jeremy StrongPrivate Auster
- Alan RuckPrincipal
Recommendations
- 83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
An unapologetic B-movie. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
The movie seems more like a '50s science fiction film of extreme paranoia or an episode of "The Twilight Zone" that even at a swiftly paced 90 minutes feels padded. - 50
Variety
In short, this is a Shyamalan movie minus the bravado, the swagger; there are no audacious attempts to pull out the rug from under the audience, no ham-fisted lessons about the importance of religious belief or the power of storytelling. - 50
Village Voice
What a bunch of nonsense--effective nonsense, chilling nonsense, occasionally wrenching nonsense, but nonsense nonetheless. - 50
Entertainment Weekly
Some sure symptoms: The movie demonstrates a smart movie geek's obsession with the rhythms and gory details of horror storytelling, undermined by a pompous insistence on spiritual lessons of the tritest kind. - 50
Philadelphia Inquirer
As for The Happening, his throwback horror flick that plays like "The Birds" meets "The Blob," it's beyond good and evil. It's dumbfounding. - 38
Charlotte Observer
It's neither dull nor stimulating, neither off-putting nor engaging. - 38
Chicago Tribune
After the insufferably dense mermaid mythology of "Lady in the Water," Shyamalan clearly wanted to keep things simple. He whizzed straight past "simple" to simplistic.
