Surprisingly effective entry in a well-worn genre.

Rating: 8/10 (5 June 2009)

First, I had to wonder if Shyamalan cut this rather short little film down from an intended earlier version that he had hoped would be more portentous, and deeper. I can see in this movie an idea for a deeper, more "serious" film, which he might have attempted without ultimately being satisfied with its effectiveness at the original longer running time.
Despite that impression, I would have to say that I join with those who felt that harsh treatment of this entry by the critics, along with weak box office returns was ill deserved. The very fresh feel, and unique magic, and whopping success of "The Sixth Sense", has apparently set this director up for such high expectations surrounding every new effort, that he has repeatedly been denied credit for his very substantial capabilities. The disappointing ticket sales for "The Happening" may result, in part, from the lack of major action sequences or dazzling special effects. Sadly, a lot of today's viewers seem addicted to all of that adrenaline-rush hyper-active film-making.
Objectifying this film quickly reveals that it is essentially a new offering in a very old genre. They were doing these creeping menace movies, wherein the threat emanates from some real danger that we have all been hearing about in the news in great numbers, back in the 1950s. Most were fairly mediocre. This one is so finely crafted, and so deftly laced with references to many sources of modern-day fear and paranoia, that it reminded me a bit of Francis Coppola's interspersing of history and fiction in The Godfather movies. For my money, Shyamalan played brilliantly on the embedded anxieties of this era to achieve a very creepy, chilling movie.
I've seen Wahlberg do better work. He is nonetheless, quite competent. In all, the cast, effectively comprised mostly of little known faces, did a fine job of bringing the story and its characters to life. Perhaps the characters could have been more complex and fully developed, but they served this little film very convincingly. To the director/writer's credit, this is a compact, scary thriller with a very serious message. I won't spell out the theme. It becomes fairly obvious when you view the film. It is hardly the first film to pitch this message; it won't be the last, but it struck me as a very well crafted, surprisingly powerful little horror show that ought to be widely seen, and widely discussed. If only a few holdouts among the partisans, who continue to deny that the threat at the heart of this story is real, might be moved to reconsider their folly, then Mr. Shyamalan's very engrossing show will be something for which we should all be grateful.