Happening
A young French student risks her safety and future when she pursues an illegal abortion in 1963.
Overview
A woman's fight for autonomy in a society that silences her desires.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- austere
- tense
- intimate
- serious film night
- feminist cinema viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Happening as a gripping, formally controlled, and deeply affecting account of reproductive oppression, anchored by Anamaria Vartolomei's performance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Anne's pregnancy, mounting physical symptoms, and shrinking options make the criminalization of abortion an intimate bodily crisis.
Audrey Diwan deliberately avoids making 1963 France feel safely remote, connecting Anne's restricted choices to current reproductive-rights debates.
Doctors, family expectations, university pressures, and the law collectively constrain Anne's attempt to end her pregnancy.
Laurent Tangy's constricted compositions visually surround Anne as her deadline approaches and her options narrow.
Films like Happening, and why
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
shared intimate historical drama, female perspective, and institutional control over reproductive autonomy
The Magdalene Sisters
shared feminist social realism, bodily autonomy, and urgent confrontation with restrictive social systems
Vera Drake
shared emotionally direct period drama centered on a young woman's constrained choices and social judgment
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
shared austere coming-of-age drama about sexual norms, class pressure, and female agency
Movie Details
- Director
- Audrey Diwan
- Release Date
- 2021-11-04
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (531)
Cast
- Anamaria Vartolomei
- Kacey Mottet Klein
- Luàna Bajrami
- Louise Orry-Diquéro
- Pio Marmaï
- Sandrine Bonnaire
- Cyril Metzger
- Anna Mouglalis
- Fabrizio Rongione
- Julien Frison
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now, MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Happening about?
- A young French student risks her safety and future when she pursues an illegal abortion in 1963.
- What is Happening like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Happening as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Happening violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Happening as mild.
- What did critics think of Happening?
- Critics broadly regard Happening as a gripping, formally controlled, and deeply affecting account of reproductive oppression, anchored by Anamaria Vartolomei's performance.
- Which films are like Happening?
- Films with a similar feel include 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, The Magdalene Sisters, Vera Drake, and The Diary of a Teenage Girl.
- How long is Happening?
- Happening runs 99 minutes.
- Where can I watch Happening?
- In United States, Happening streams on Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now, MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel.
