Summary

The Happening is yet another movie by M Night S that attempts to get J Doe to come out of his Apathy Closet and THINK about things he SHOULD be thinking about [and not about how well his IPad flips from portrait to landscape mode].  That is to say we are talking to Mick Jagger Syndrome

In The Happening M Night S is examining what Americans refer to as TEOTWAWKI and the psychology that goes with all "over-prepping about Unknown Unknowns" on the one hand or "denial" on the other.  So he presents a scenario where the Earth is revolting [via the plants in a "Day of the Triffids" type scenario] and trying to save itself by taking action.

As a shock tactic to try to break J Doe out of his apathy he "majorly" speeds the whole deal up so that "cause and effect" events that might take 10 years or even 100 years to cycle, happen in an instant.

What this does is essentially replicate the "TV War" of Vietnan, or 9/11 on TV scenario where the audience is essentially looking at themselves, and wondering what they would do in that situation.  Further, he sets the stage of this whole Happening being a Science Experiment by the clever juxtaposition of the hero from classroom teacher to "up to his ears in it".

I will explain my own thoughts on these many clever sequences in individual posts.