M. Night Shyamalan’s 2008 film The Happening was widely misunderstood, according to its star Zooey Deschanel. Shyamalan’s sci-fi action thriller focused on people struggling to survive a plague that causes those infected with it to die by suicide. Mark Wahlberg starred in The Happening alongside Deschanel, with additional performances from John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez, and Betty Buckley.
Ever since ascending into prominence with The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan has been one of the most prominent horror and sci-fi directors today. Despite his fame and the commercial success of many of his films, however, Shyamalan is not a universally revered director. While he is known for his twist endings, some of the said twists are mercilessly mocked and his plot lines are deemed contrived and at times nonsensical by some. The Happening was one such film - it was widely slammed by critics, with many still deeming it the director’s worst film to date.
Contrary to the universally bad reviews, however, Deschanel speaks out in support of Shyamalan’s vision for The Happening. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Deschanel discussed much of her past work. When asked about when she realized The Happening was in fact not “happening,” Deschanel revealed that she felt that Shyamalan “had a strong vision” for The Happening. She “trusted” Shyamalan, feeling that “he’s a great filmmaker.” Though admitting that she did not quite understand this part of The Happening until she saw the film, Deschanel says that she believes that Shyamalan was going for some kind of “stylised horror” film with The Happening, which did not read with audiences. Check out the full quote from Deschanel below:
[She laughs.] That film was pretty universally not loved! The director, M Night Shyamalan – Night – had a strong vision and we were all trying to do what he wanted. I trusted him, because he’s a great film-maker. I didn’t know until I saw the film, but I think he was going for a stylised horror, like The Birds, and maybe people didn’t get that. I had a blast working with Night and Mark Wahlberg, but while I’ve done serious drama, I’m not sure I fit with thrillers. I find most joy in doing comedy.
Deschanel’s take on The Happening is an interesting addition to the ongoing discussion of the film. While most of what is still written about The Happening focuses on what went wrong, perhaps Deschanel is right that The Happening is partially misunderstood by audiences. It seems that when Shyamalan makes a bad film, like The Happening, or perhaps even more infamously his live action version of The Last Airbender, he is painted as a director that has now become less competent despite directing some acclaimed works such as The Sixth Sense and Signs. However, with Deschanel’s description of The Happening in addition to the limited opinions that tout the film as a well-laid-out but misunderstood modern B movie, it seems that perhaps Shyamalan has a more coherent scheme than many critics give him credit for, even if his inner vision is not fully actualized in his final films.
Since The Happening, Shyamalan’s latest work has received fairly mixed reviews. Split, Glass, and Old all seemed to lack quality consensus from both critics and audiences. Shyamalan’s upcoming work includes a thriller called Knock at the Cabin starring David Bautista and Rupert Grint and a drama-mystery film called Labor of Love whose cast is yet to be announced. Perhaps with these newer works, Shyamalan can undo the (perhaps mischaracterized) wrongdoings of The Happening and regain something closer to his Sixth Sense fame.
Source: The Guardian