Hi, this is Dana Stevens, Slate's movie critic, and I'm here with a Slate spoiler special on

M. Knight-Sharmelan's The Happening, speaking with Michael Agar. Hi, Michael. Hello.

Who's a culture editor at Slate. So, Michael, you and I, just hours ago, an hour ago or so,

walked out of a showing of the happening. Before we even summarize the plot, general reaction,

clammy palms, clammy entire body, because of the over-air conditioning in the theater?

Definitely clammy palms, but also annoyed.

Right.

Yeah, we were saying it's a strange sensation of sort of ridicule and boredom mixed together with some kind of legitimate terror or, I don't know, at least a low level anxiety in my case.

Yes, Shamblan's very good at keeping you in suspense for, say, five, seven minutes,

and then something so utterly stupid happens that you kind of forget why you were scared.

It's strange. He has a very unique gift. Okay, let's set up a unique gift that also, you know,

shoots him in the foot at all times.

He's sort of like, he's his fully good and bad self in this movie, I think.

So let's set up the movie and then talk about how he's his good and bad self.

So what is the happening that sweeps through Central Park in the beginning of the movie? opens with two women sitting on a bench and they're having a conversation and then the wind

kind of picks up and sweeps through the park and the one woman repeats what she's saying.

She keeps repeating it.

And then she takes a, what is it, some sort of hair pin out of her hair?

Yeah, it's like a chopstick that's holding up her bun or something like that,

a particularly sharp one. Yeah, particularly sharp one and then proceeds to plunge it into her neck.

So the happening seems to be this mysterious wind that causes people to kill themselves in the most

convenient way possible. Right. So as soon as you hear this wind come up, then suddenly, and by the way, everyone, if you

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