Annamaria Vartolomei gives a hypnotic performance in Happening. She has a wide eyed look of being worried throughout that never wavers. Her problem is that she is unable to concentrate on her student lectures, where she is constantly berated by the lecturer for not listening and often being told she will fail her exams if she does not do better. The truth is, she's pregnant and this is France in the 1960's when abortions are illegal and can lead to a prison sentence. Anne does not want to be tied down to being an unmarried mother and is determined to find a way to abort the foetus. She wants to enjoy her youth and what follows is difficult to watch at times. A really wonderful performance that dominates the screen and could have been boring in lesser hands.
Review of Happening
