The Happening

Paranoid, end-of-the-world thriller, in which a science teacher and his family try to outrun a neurotoxin sweeping the country. Lecturing his students about the mass disappearance of bees, teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) is informed that a wave of mass suicides is occurring across the country, initially believed to be some form of biological terrorist attack. Deciding to leave town by train with his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), fellow teacher Julian (John Leguizamo) and Julian’s daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez), the train finally comes to a halt before its final destination when the crew loses contact with the outside world. As the full enormity of the situation sinks in, what little information available from news reports suggests that the rapidly spreading neurotoxin is emanating from plants, and being spread on the wind. As the suicide pandemic reaches ever smaller population centres, Elliot, Alma and Jess have to fend for themselves, desperately seeking shelter from the approaching storm.