Happening

This film depicts painful reality of being a woman. Tangled between life's pressures and expectations of the society, left alone to fight for the rights to her own body, main character embarks on a journey to find herself an identity that is more than a good student, a lover or a housewife. Almost too painful to watch, yet worth it.

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.

Not uplifting but very graphic and well acted. Hard to say if I'd recommend it- this would depend on the person interested in the story.

A powerful, moving, and simple film that plainly shows the effects of an unplanned pregnancy on a young woman living in France before safe and legal abortions were available. Her mood, her schoolwork, her friendships, and her relationships with her family are all strained as she struggles to cope with the situation and seeks out a way to end her pregnancy. The filmmaking is not flashy but it is good.

it is an easy example of roller coaster destiny of human being.

A very hard watch. Slow, slow, slow. Ending saved it, but really I wouldn't recommend. A whole lot of nothing.

Absolute must-see in this period of time where women's rights are under attack all over the world.

An educational film. The camera lens follows every second of the main character, a college student who experiences moments of great tension when she finds out that she is pregnant, which can change her life forever. By not accepting that situation, she follows a route full of risks and sorrows, the dilemma between life and death, between the ethical and the immoral; in a female environment where she feels cornered. Despite her personal stubbornness, it is clear the great responsibility that each woman has to face towards her sexuality and the emotional and social consequences of it. All this boils in the protagonist's mind, and she lets us know in each scene, in each movement of this girl followed by the camera and everyone's eyes.

Probably the most "need to be seen movie" out there. It shows the ugly truth about where our country is headed if we don't do something! The desperation and loneliness of the character Anne is visceral and hard to watch, but it must be seen.

Fantastic movie. Please guys support my new films discussion site. Scenedebate. Your support is highly appreciated. Thank y'all.