The Happening (2008)

The Happening is a 2008 American apocalyptic psychological thriller film^[6] written, co-produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, and Betty Buckley. The film follows a group of four as they try to escape an inexplicable natural disaster.

The film is Shyamalan's first and so far only film to receive an R rating. It had its premiere in New York City on June 10, 2008, and was later released on June 13, 2008, in North America. It received generally unfavorable reviews from critics^[7] and grossed $163 million worldwide against its $48 million production budget.

In New York City's Central Park, people begin committing mass suicide. Initially believed to be caused by a bio-terrorist attack using an airborne neurotoxin, the behavior quickly spreads across the northeastern United States. High school science teacher Elliot Moore and his wife Alma are convinced by Elliot's mathematician colleague Julian to accompany him and his daughter Jess on a train out of Philadelphia. During the trip, the group learns that Boston and Philadelphia have also been affected. The train loses all radio contact and stops at a small town. When Julian learns that his wife has left Boston for Princeton, he decides to go look for her, and entrusts Jess to the Moores. However, Princeton is affected by the time of Julian's arrival, and he commits suicide.

Elliot, Alma and Jess hitch a ride with a nurseryman and his wife. The nurseryman theorizes that plant life has developed a defense mechanism against humans consisting of an airborne toxin that stimulates neurotransmitters and causes humans to commit suicide. His hypothesis is confirmed when the group is joined by other survivors, who suggest avoiding roads and populated areas. When the larger part of the group is affected by the toxin, Elliot realizes that the plants are targeting only large groups of people. He splits their group into smaller pockets and they walk along. Elliot befriends a pair of teenage boys, Josh and Jared, but they are later killed when Elliot unsuccessfully attempts to reason with the armed residents of a barricaded house.

Elliot, Alma and Jess wander the countryside and come upon the home of Mrs. Jones, an eccentric and paranoid elder. Jones initially agrees to house the group for the night, but is convinced of their bad intentions and decides to expel them the next morning. In a fury, she leaves the house alone and is affected by the toxin. The shaken Elliot realizes that the plants are now targeting individuals, and chooses to die with Alma and Jess. The three embrace in the yard and are surprised to find themselves unaffected by the toxin. The outbreak has abated as quickly as it began.

Three months later, Elliot and Alma have adjusted to their new life with Jess as their adopted daughter. On television, an expert, comparing the event to a red tide, warns that the epidemic may have only been a harbinger of an impending global disaster, but his theory is met with disbelief, with the interviewer reminding him that only the northeastern United States was affected. Another wave of suicides is initiated in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris, France.