Filled with mystery and dread

Rating: 8/10 (13 June 2008)

Now that I've seen "The Happening" I'm genuinely puzzled by the bad reviews I've been reading. I think this is a fine, tense, frightening film, filled with an overwhelming sense of mystery and dread. Reminiscent (to me) of both "The Birds" and "The Blair Witch Project", it sets the inexplicable forces of Nature Herself against us, and if you've ever wondered what might happen if the Earth finally did get sick and tired of us, well, so apparently has M. Night. I'm sure I've never seen a film where the ordinarily peaceful sounds of rustling leaves and wind blowing through the grass became so fearsome. Yes, there's no explanation for what happens (of course not: if something like this did happen, what explanation could we possibly get, and who from? the Delphic Oracle?); yes, the deaths are shocking, though not excessively gory; but it seems to me that the film devotes all its energy to a single-minded paring down of the cast to one small, simple family group, and leaves its single note of hope right there. With stark, spare cinematography and top-notch sound editing, this is one keen little razor of a cautionary tale, with an oh-my-god final sequence.