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Happening
Happening
L'Événement
2021 ·99 min ·France ·R 16+
7.8
IMDb 7.4 КП 6.8 RT 99% MC 86
Drama
Director: Audrey Diwan
🎭 Based on «Happening» byAnnie Ernaux
Trailers Happening
Trailer EN
Trailer EN
Trailer EN

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.

US Gross: $181,023
Worldwide: $171,765
Anamaria Vartolomei
Actor
Kacey Mottet Klein
Actor
Luàna Bajrami
Actor
🏆 Venice Film Festival 2021 — Golden Lion
🏆 César Awards 2022 — Most Promising Actress
🏆 Venice Film Festival 2021 — Brian of Nazareth Award
🎬 César Awards 2022 — Best Picture
🎬 César Awards 2022 — Best Director
🎬 BAFTA 2022 — Best Director
🎬 César Awards 2022 — Best Adapted Screenplay
🎬 European Film Awards 2021 — Student Award (EUFA)
🏆 Venice Film Festival 2021 — Arca CinemaGiovani Award – Best Film (Youth Jury)
🏆 Venice Film Festival 2021 — FIPRESCI Prize

L'Événement is widely praised for its visceral, uncompromising depiction of a young woman's struggle to secure an illegal abortion in 1960s France. While critics largely laud the film's tense atmosphere and central performance, opinions are divided on whether the minimalist narrative offers profound new insights or relies on a stark, repetitive approach to its social critique.

Acting Anamaria Vartolomei delivers a powerful, anchoring performance that conveys the protagonist's profound isolation and determination.
Cinematography The cinematography uses intrusive, claustrophobic framing and a square aspect ratio to effectively mirror the protagonist's lack of agency and growing distress.
Score The repetitive, singular musical score successfully builds an atmosphere of inevitable, paranoid dread.
Direction The director avoids didactic, political sloganizing, choosing instead to present an unambiguous and grounded personal perspective on bodily autonomy.
Theme The film's minimalist, hyper-focused narrative is seen by some as a visceral, effective social-horror manifesto, while others find it lacking in thematic depth or narrative evolution.
Emotion The stark, unyielding portrayal of the abortion process is praised by many as an essential piece of psychological realism, but criticized by others as an exhausting, non-cathartic experience that fails to elevate the source material.
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