The Happening

Question: Technically, these people would not die from the neurotoxin directly, so do you think it could have eventually worn off? That is, of course, if the people didn't kill themselves first. The government could have sent in troops with gas masks and everyone put in straight jackets and padded rooms so not to get hurt until the toxin wore off. That could have worked; what do you think?

Jason Riley

Chosen answer: If it would/could wear off would be debatable. As far as sending troops in wearing gas masks: The masks are simply filters that block molecules of certain sizes. If the neurotoxin molecular structure was small enough, it could pass through the filters. And then there is, if you really wanted to die, you will find a way regardless of the situation.

Rlvlk

Question: In the scene where little Jess is playing at the swing, right after she walks away from it, aren't there blood stains (or something just as reddish) on the swing's wooden seat?

Answer: It appears so. M. Night often uses the color red in his movies as a visual clue that something emotional or violent is about to take place. If there was blood on the swing, it could be a forewarning to the audience that the house in question is more dangerous to the main characters than originally assessed.

Question: When the woman is talking to her daughter on her cell phone, we hear the woman on the other end of the line say something like, "I see in calculus". Does this have any deeper meaning in the movie? Most people we see that are affected act strange, but none talk of seeing things.

Answer: In the movie the plants are releasing chemicals into the air that sends a self destruct sequence to the humans. Some plants have hallucinogenic capabilities. It is possible that the girl who sees in calculus had been the victim of just such a plant causing her to see things that aren't really there.

oddy knocky

Question: I don't understand why the people kill themselves. I mean I understand that the neurotoxin removes their self-preservation instincts, but wouldn't that just make them not care if they live or die and take unnecessary risks, not actively seek out ways to kill themselves?

Answer: If such an event were to actually occur in the real world, that would be the most likely scenario. The mass suicide is just how M. Night Shamylan chose to portray the event in his film.

Answer: I just thought, that because of the toxin's way of making your thoughts and actions move backwards, it might mean that it also switched the human way of wanting to survive. The opposite of surviving is, of course, dying.

More mistakes in The Happening

Elliot Moore: The event must've ended before we went out today.

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