A Short Deconstruction of M Night Shyamalan's The Happening

A deconstruction of the happening

The happening is a scientific thriller which could be called a commentary on pollution and mankind harming the planet. The happening focuses on the experiences of one family of Elliot and Alma Moore who have adopted their best friend’s daughter and are trying to take her away from the destruction.

The film relies on an idea of constant danger to keep the tension up. The idea is perpetuated by the use of very quick camera cuts from one scene to another and uses a lot of realism. The mise en scene of most scenes in the film is that of a very normal background: a park, a city or a small town or house. This setting helps the film seem like the disaster is happening in a real world scenario. In moments of danger a lot of close up shots are used to help establish personal danger.

The characters in the film are meant to appear very realistic the main character Elliot Moore is portrayed as a smart high school teacher which gives him a unique perspective when compared to other characters and allows him to explain certain situations to the other characters and by extension the audience. Other characters are set out as being to panicked by the situation to apply much rational thought and the ones that can are usually roundly ignored or not taken seriously.

The film uses the personal fear every American citizen had post 911 of some massive horrible event this is effectively art imitating life. The film also uses ambiguity as it is never quite explained how the characters escape at the end. The plot leads through sensibly until the final scene where it is not properly explained to the audience how the story is resolved.