structural flaw

Rating: 6/10 (19 May 2019)

Malorie (Sandra Bullock) harshly lays out the rules to two young kids named Boy and Girl. They are going on a difficult river trip. They have to stay quiet and can never ever take off their blindfolds. The situation begins five years earlier. People are going mad and killing themselves. Malorie is extremely pregnant and her boyfriend has left. She's at a checkup with her sister Jessica (Sarah Paulson) when she first encounters the happening. She escapes the chaos and finds shelter with various people inside a house.
This is a variation on The Happening with a touch of A Quiet Place. Here the thing about The Happening. I didn't hate it. Mark Wahlberg and the reveal almost get me to hate it but I like the concept just enough to overcome it. The mass suicide angle is good although the deaths in this one is much more kinetic and therefore much more harrowing. There are a few problem, the biggest being the structure. Basically, the flashforward structure reveals who are probably going to die. The movie should have started with Malorie laying out the rules but the audience cannot see who she's talking to. It should have played the movie chronologically after that. By revealing the final grouping, it sucks the tension right out of the movie. Along with that, there are issues with some of the characters' actions. Someone should be in the room with Greg ready to pull the plug on the monitor. He is basically performing an experiment and it needs someone else to monitor it. When the group decides to leave the grocery store, there is no reason why Douglas wouldn't want to stay. In fact, it would be easier to move the group to the store rather than the other way around. While I understand locking up Douglas, somebody is supposed to look through Gary's bag. At the very least, I would have tied up Gary and put him under questioning. When the girls start the contractions, somebody should release Douglas. They need another set of hands. Instead of braving the rapids, it would be safer to walk it, no matter how much longer it would take. Despite all these issues, I do find the concept very compelling and it pulls me into its world.