While it may be one of both the filmmaker and star’s worst-reviewed movies in their careers,The Happeningis starting to get a second chance at success on streaming. M. Night Shyamalan’s 2008 movie starred Mark Wahlberg as high school science teacher Elliot Moore as he and his wife, Alma, race around the Northeastern United States region in the hopes of escaping the mysterious mass suicides affecting the area. Also starring Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo,The Happeningwas widely pannedupon its release, holding just an 18% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but was a modest box office success.
Just a couple of weeks after finding a new streaming home on the platform, Shyamalan’sThe Happeningis climbingHulu’s charts. At the time of writing,the 2008 horror movie sits in the No. 3 spot on the streamer’s Top 15 Movies Today. The movie is currently sitting behind two new Hulu Originals, the No. 1 spot being held by the children’s show satireMr. Crockettand the No. 2 spot taken by the Sarah Paulson-led psychological period horror dramaHold Your Breath.
Looking at the rest of the chart behindThe Happening,the 2008 movie isn’t the only Shyamalan title to be in Hulu’s Top 15 Movies, with his 1999 classicThe Sixth Sensesitting at No. 8 and 2002’sSignsat No. 15. The rest of the chart has largely been dominated by fellow horror titlesReady or Notat No. 4,The Purgeat No. 5,The Purge: Election Yearat No. 9,Stingat No. 12 andThe Nun IIat No. 13.
Theremaining few spots in Hulu’s Top 15 are primarily those of the action genre, includingBad Boys for Lifeat No. 6,Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearlat No. 10,The Hitman’s Bodyguardat No. 11 andThe Day After Tomorrowat No. 14, though Anne Hathaway’sThe Princess Diarieshas snuck in at the No. 7 spot.
Is The Happening Worth Streaming?
One Should Temper Their Expectations For The Movie’s Tone
Considering just how poorly received the movie was at the time of its release, it may come as somewhat of a surprise thatThe Happeningis performing so well after making its Hulu debut. Critics weren’t the only onesunimpressed with Shyamalan’s 2008 horror film, asit holds a dismal 24% score from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a dreaded D on CinemaScore. Even still, with this surge in popularity, some may be wondering whetherThe Happeningis worth streaming.
18%
24%
34
4.1
CinemaScore
D
As someone who became disappointed by Shyamalan’s 11-year-run of poorly received movies, it’s certainly hard for me to fully recommendThe Happening. The concept at the heart of its story is certainly a novel one, and there’s definitely a case to be made thatit’s an excellent B-movie much in the way of such ’50s classics asThe Blob. That said, the movie’s overall tone is still too far inconsistent to even fully defend it from this point of view, something that Shyamalan himself has admitted in the past when reflecting on the film.
10 Best Movies Like The Happening
From the environmental thrills of The Bay to the M. Night Shyamalan twists of Knock at the Cabin, there are many great movies like The Happening.
However, one reason why one could consider watchingThe Happeningis if they enjoy movies that are so bad that they’re thoroughly entertaining. Fans of films likeTommy Wiseau’sThe Roomor even Ed Wood’sPlan 9 From Outer Spacewill find themselves delighted by Shyamalan’s movie, namely for just how awkward some of its dialogue is delivered.
Our Take On The Happening’s Streaming Success
Shyamalan’s Recent Resurgence Is Likely A Main Factor
As to whyThe Happeningis suddenly finding success on streaming, one of the likeliest reasons is thatShyamalan has enjoyed something of a career resurgence in recent years. Though the James McAvoy-ledSplitwas his big return to fame, his subsequent titles ofGlassandOldfailed to resonate in the same way, even if the former proved to be one of the filmmaker’s highest-grossing movies to date. Between the critical success of 2023’sKnock at the Cabinandmixed-to-positive response to this year’sTrap, it’s clear viewers are willing to watch his work again.
2024 also marked the release ofThe Watchers, the feature directorial debut of one of Shyamalan’s daughters, Ishana, which he produced.
The other likely factor whyThe Happeningis performing so well on Hulu is that it’s now the Halloween season, and audiences are subsequently looking for horror-driven things to watch. This seems no more evident than the fact that, of the streamer’s Top 15 chart, two thirds are populated by horror-related titles. Should this late success lead to interest in Shyamalan’s other movies on the platform, he may just find himself completely dominating Hulu’s charts for the rest of the month.
The Happening
Cast
Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan presents The Happening, a thriller that centers around a strange unexplained phenomenon that begins to cause human beings to commit suicide in waves. Initially believed to be an international terrorist attack, science teacher Elliot and his wife Alma head to Boston with friends to escape the chaos. Soon enough, they realize that the effects have spread further than they thought - possibly across the entire world.
