Happening (2021)
Screenshot from the film "Happening," (c) IFC
23-year-old Anne is shocked when her doctor tells her she is pregnant.
“Happening” is Audrey Diwan’s adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s semi-autobiographical 2000 novel of the same name. It won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. Set in 1963 southwest France, the film could be seen as a backward-glance warning about turning the clock back in our own country.
Film reviewer, Ed McNulty writes, "The two takeaways from the film for me are, first, how the unfairness of her situation is. She bears the entire weight of the result of a few nights of sexual pleasure, while the young man can – and does – walk away. Secondly, this stark situation for unwed pregnant women, set in a past almost 60 years distant, could be the future for the women of our country."
"And it’s sad to see that the staunchest advocates of a return to the past are people who call themselves Christian! This is an important film that I hope you, dear reader will see, but also urge others to take it in as well."