"...All is left for us to do is to learn fast how not to sink so rapidly..."

Rating: 9/10 (8 July 2011)

Shyamalan is well-hated for this one because he doesn't seem to care about his audience's state of mind. He started, he showed, he gave them some new dramatic scenes, he hinted at what might have been, and before it was adequately explained, he left suddenly. He had no intention to prepare them and he would not come to an aid when they were lost. I don't believe this is vanity. He merely wants to leave the audience totally unprepared in order to feel the powerlessness. To understand this film, one must choose the right frame of mind. I am touched by the storytelling being deliciously atmospheric and surrounding. Nature can act up and takes back whatever we think are ours at anytime. It doesn't need to reason. All is left for us to do is to learn fast how not to sink so rapidly. I don't even care about the possibility of the plot. Shyamalan asks us to close our eyes and to feel the feeling. He accomplished, and that is good enough for me. It doesn't make him god-like and superior than the audience, which is, I believe, where much of these hateful sentiments must have come from.
Cinematography of this film is top-notched. The frequent use of wind is effective. Almost all spoken lines are written to be an undertone of the atmosphere. The ending of this sort of film is always problematic. You start with nature, and it is hard to end it in a man-made way or an alienated conclusion like the likes of "Knowing", of which some extra terrestrials are responsible for everything. I think Shyamalan delivers what he has intended. Only a large number of people out there are not particularly fond of the delivery itself. This is the price he pays for trying to be different from his past works. I believe this film will redeem itself and finds its place. No need to like it now. Some minds must first grow.
The near-ending scene at the bus stop adds to the completion. It is so ordinary and calm, and it is priceless when compared to deaths and the state of uncertainty before that. I think the film reminds us to love what it is now, and to appreciate every moment. A critic wrote that "The Happening" is actually not happening. Precisely. This is not a film to be intellectually fulfilled, but to feel.