Happening

2021 [FRENCH]

Action / Drama / History

17
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 79% · 172 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 79% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.4/10 10 13668 13.7K

france pregnancy woman director abortion 1960s full frontal female nudity

Plot summary

France, 1963. Anne is a bright young student with a promising future ahead of her. But when she falls pregnant, she sees the opportunity to finish her studies and escape the constraints of her social background disappearing. With her final exams fast approaching and her belly growing, Anne resolves to act, even if she has to confront shame and pain, even if she must risk prison to do so.

Director

Audrey Diwan Photo
Audrey Diwan

Top cast

Anamaria Vartolomei Photo
Anamaria Vartolomei as Anne Duchesne
Leïla Muse Photo
Leïla Muse as Céline
Sandrine Bonnaire Photo
Sandrine Bonnaire as Gabrielle Duchesne
Pio Marmaï Photo
Pio Marmaï as Professeur Bornec
720p.BluRay 720p.WEB 1080p.BluRay 1080p.WEB
911.71 MB
982*720
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 6
911.92 MB
978*720
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 3
1.83 GB
1474*1080
French 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 12
1.83 GB
1456*1072
French 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
24 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 13

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by paul-allaer 8 / 10

Gut-wrenching abortion drama, now more relevant than ever

As "Happening" (2021 release from France; 100 min.) opens, it's some time in the early 1960s in France, and we are introduced to several young women, students at the local university, who are getting ready to go out on the town. One of them is Annie (or Anne). Then later, Annie goes to see a doctor as her period is late. The doctor informs her that she is pregnant, to Annie's shock. She asks the doctor "to do something" but he flat-out refuses, as abortion is illegal and carries a penalty in jail... At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.Couple of comments: this is the latest from French-Lebanese writer-director Audrey Diwan ("Losing It"). Here she brings the real life tale of what happens to a young woman in her early 20s who gets pregnant in a time and space where abortion is entirely illegal without any exceptions (France in the early 60s). Watch how Annie gets no support, zero, from anyone around her including doctors, family and friends, and even her lover. Watch how increasingly desperate Annie becomes as the weeks pass. Please note that some scenes are very difficult to watch. The US premiere of this film came at the 2022 Sundance film festival, just over a year ago, and mere months before the US Supreme Court overruled Re v. Wade, with the GOP subsequently enacting strict anti-abortion laws in multiple states. For shame. Do you want to go back more than half a century to the times when men in power decided that "this isn't a woman's issue"? Welcome to the GOP of 2022! As a complete aside, this film is based on the book of the same name by acclaimed French author Annie Ernaux (born Duchesne), who just last year won the Nobel Prize in Literature."Happening" is currently rated 99% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and for good reason. It is a gut-wrenching abortion drama, now more relevant issue than ever. I had been clamoring to see this film, and finally it started streaming on Hulu just yesterday. I watched it right away. If you are in the mood for a top-notch if devastating abortion drama, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
Reviewed by Xstal 8 / 10

To Be or Not To Be...

... is clearly not the question, as we wander through a world that started out with such regression, though the thoughts that linger in our heads are more for education, of traditions that left ignorance brainwashed that there's damnation, sometimes the blinkers seem to stay in place regardless of enlightening, which if you're free and progressive - will only leave you frightening.Performances combined with a belief that things can always change for the better, no matter what those circumstances are, make this an unmissable piece of great historical stepping stone foundational film making.
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