It's Evolution meets The Happening, directed by Ridley Scott.

Rating: 2/10 (14 July 2013)

The fear of the unknown is the central focus of The Mist, along with the psychological effects of a random group of people being forced into a survival situation in an enclosed space. (Think Lord of the Flies but with a tangible outside threat; the outcome is pretty much the same, however.) A curious mix of characters creates added tension - Marcia Gay Harden's performance as the intensely religious Mrs. Carmody is superb - and promises an interesting study into human nature when faced with an unknown threat. Unfortunately, the premise soon deteriorates into bad CGI and illogical actions taken by the central characters.
The Mist is clearly trying to do the same thing that The Happening did heaps better a year later, the difference being that while the explanation for the events in The Happening is plausible (if quite far-fetched), The Mist takes the easy way out of the plot it's twisted around itself by tacking on a ridiculous explanation for the mist and the monsters. Granted, I reckon it could have worked if it had been written into the movie better, but as it is, it feels like a cop out.
It could be that Mrs. Carmody's religious fervour is meant as a warning against extreme beliefs and mass hysteria, in which case good, though it's a tad heavy-handed. Other than this, the main characters are hardly sympathetic; the kid, Billy Drayton (Nathan Gamble), is the most likable of them all, with the refreshingly sensible Amanda Dunfrey (Laurie Holden) as a close second. Frances Sternhagen deserves a special mention; her character, the elderly Irene Reppler, is one kick-ass grandma.
All in all, The Mist is a good idea turned into a terrible, boring movie that tries to score points with unimaginative gore and the shock value of psychological weirdness. The ending would be its redeeming feature - if only the rest of it weren't so bad.