The Happening

In the northeastern U.S., people suddenly and inexplicably begin committing suicide en masse. First they become disoriented, then stop moving, and finally find the quickest way to kill themselves. The "pandemic" begins in parks, and quickly spreads to nearby population centers. Initially believed to be a bioterrorist attack, it later seems less likely, as the events increase in ever smaller population centers.

Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) is a high school science teacher in Philadelphia, discussing with his students the sudden departure of the honey bee. When news of the sudden mass suicides spreads school is cancelled, and he decides to leave the city via train with his wife, Alma Moore (Zooey Deschanel), his friend and fellow teacher, Julian (John Leguizamo) and Julian's eight-year-old daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez). The train services stop in a small town in western Pennsylvania, after the crew loses contact with "everyone". Julian finds out that the "attacks" have affected Princeton, New Jersey, where his wife was located, and leaves Jess with Elliot while he hitches a ride in an attempt to find her. He and his fellow passengers fall victim to the strange calamity, and commit suicide by the quickest method possible.

Meanwhile, Elliot, Alma, and Jess manage to hitchhike with a botanist and his wife; the man explains his theory that plants are attacking people as a defense mechanism. He elaborates on the complex mechanisms that often seem to appear spontaneously, involving strategies such as attracting predators to kill off specific threats and fostering communication between different species of plants. As they drive, they find themselves surrounded on all sides by affected towns. A number of other cars arrive in the same crossroads, all fleeing places hit by the suicide epidemic. A soldier, Pfc. Auster, suggests moving away from the population centers on foot to avoid being affected, as the effect has been occurring in smaller and smaller populations.

The group of survivors splits into two, with Elliot, Alma, and Jess in a smaller group. Auster's group, arguing amongst themselves are caught within the effect, and Eliot, hearing the other group kill themselves one after another with a single pistol, concludes that it is likely caused by an airborne neurotoxin exuded by the surrounding plants. The larger the group of people, the more likely it is to trigger the defense mechanism. Elliot makes the group split into three smaller ones with Elliot, Alma, Jess, and two teenage boys staying together.

While looking for food for Jess, Elliot's group come across a boarded up house with survivors inside, still believing the pandemic to be a terrorist attack. They are unwilling to open the doors, and when the two teenage boys begin to aggressively force an entry, they are shot dead and Elliot's group is forced to leave. They make their way to the house of a woman living in complete isolation; thus, she is ignorant of the pandemic. Though she allows them to stay, she proves to be a harsh and paranoid host. In the morning, Elliot finds himself alone; going downstairs, he hears the voices of Alma and Jess but cannot find them. He inadvertently enters the old woman's room and she angrily insists that they leave immediately.

The woman storms out of the house into the garden, where she becomes affected, and kills herself. Realizing that the defense mechanism has become even more sensitive, affecting individuals, Elliot shuts himself inside the house. Elliot finds himself in a room where he can hear Alma and Jess. He finds a speaking tube, which leads to a spring house some distance from the house. Conversing with his wife, he decides that if he is to die, he would prefer to spend his remaining time with her. They leave the safety of their buildings, meeting in the yard between the two, but are surprised to find themselves unaffected by the neurotoxin. The effect seems to have abated as quickly as it began.

Three months later, Elliot and Alma have adjusted to a new life with Jess as their adopted daughter. On television, an environmentalist warns that the pandemic may only have been a warning, like a rash that precedes an infection. Elliot takes Jess to the bus stop for the first day of school while Alma stays at home, timing a home pregnancy test. When he returns, Alma greets him with a smile, and they embrace.

In France, the effect appears to happen once again as everyone in sight suddenly stops moving as the wind suddenly moves the trees.

Cast

• Mark Wahlberg as Elliot Moore, a high school science teacher from Philadelphia, who is married to Alma.
• Zooey Deschanel as Alma Moore, Elliot's estranged wife.
• John Leguizamo as Julian, a high school math teacher and Elliot's friend.
• Ashlyn Sanchez as Jess, Julian's daughter.
• Spencer Breslin as Josh, a teenage boy who with his friend Jared temporarily travels with Elliot, Alma, and Jess.
• Betty Buckley as Mrs. Jones, a woman who lives in an isolated home in rural Pennsylvania.
• Jeremy Strong as Private Auster, a private in the US Army who fled from his station after finding all of the soldiers having killed themselves in the barbwire.
• M. Night Shyamalan is credited as "Joey", the man with whom Alma secretly meets, although the character does not appear on-screen