Trigger warning: this review discusses abortion, unsafe abortion practices, and medical trauma. Viewers should also note that Happening depicts graphic scenes of an at-home abortion and an abortion done by a professional.
With abortion such a hot topic in the global and regional political spheres, a film like Happening will always be necessary, despite its 1960s setting. Based on Annie Ernaux’s semi-autobiographical novel, this French film, written by Marcia Romano, Audrey Diwan, Annie Ernaux, and directed by Audrey Diwan, approaches abortion with the matter-of-fact attitude of the weary but also conveys the trauma and loneliness that comes from seeking an abortion in a world hell-bent on demonizing people for doing so.
Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei) is a young university student with a penchant for literature and writing, but the discovery of her pregnancy halts her studies and complicates her friendship. Abortion was not legalized in France until 1975; for Anne to continue her studies, she decides to terminate the pregnancy, risking a life-long prison sentence.
Through various scenes, we understand the societal climate of the time—Anne and her friends often go dancing and flirt with guys they meet, but to go home with one turns you into a social pariah. Her friends discuss their frustrations with this societal ill that goes in direct contrast with their own sexual desires. Meanwhile, the men face no such pressure.
The film structures itself by week as Anne counts down her days until it’s too late to get an abortion. This provides easy yet effective tracking of time—as Anne grows increasingly desperate for a solution, the tension becomes palpable.
Frustration and anger are primary emotions coursing throughout the film, but the film’s straightforward approach and matter-of-factness around this subject are the real evidence for why access to safe and legal abortions is important for the health of women, non-binary, and transgender men everywhere. It’s there in the title already: “happening” is a simple statement of fact that Anne has to deal with this issue right now, and she’ll do whatever it takes.
As Anne seeks out help from doctors who brush her off and lie to her, as she risks performing the abortion on herself, she hires a woman on the down low to perform it for her, and then risks it again when it doesn’t work the first time, Happening makes it clear that Anne was pushed to this by the double standards of society.
Vartolomei gives a wonderfully nuanced performance, showcasing the emotional turmoil and exhaustion Anne goes through by herself as well as the bright-eyed student she stays over the course of the film. Happening rests on her performance, and the carefully crafted framing of the film’s drawn-out abortion scenes by director Audrey Diwan.
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