The Happening, science vs. supernatural

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2008)

The movie is freaky more than scary. There were times I found the script random. Some moments seemed like there should have been a punch line, which didn't fit with the whole "serious movie vibe." The plot moved slow but it kept me involved.
In this movie, people in Central Park are behaving oddly. Some are walking backwards. Others repeat the same sentence over and over again. One lady stabs herself in the neck with a needle. Then we meet our protagonist, a science teacher in Philadelphia. He is trying to get his students interested in science. He wants them to make theories up about the disappearance of bees. By this time, word of the strange "happening" has reached the school. The principal decides to close the school and let people be home with their families.
The teacher (Elliot), his wife, best friend, and daughter decide to get out of town. Maybe it will be safer somewhere else. Inter-family tensions are high, but they are determined to stick together. They soon find out that finding a safe spot will prove more harder than they imagined. This movie will keep you guessing all the way through. Can science save the day? This movie was very much like The Birds. The plot seems to weird to be plausible, but you are wondering if this could every really happen. All the technologies and things we humans rely on are of no use, and all the characters have to rely on is their wits and the kindness of strangers. Remember in The Birds when it ended you felt exhausted? I remember thinking, where can they go to feel safe? Birds are everywhere. How could you run from them? Would they be running forever? The truth is, no mater how much we might wish it to be true, safety is an illusion. There is no safety on this Earth. I feel that is an essential truth, and that is why I appreciate Shyamalan's work.