I like this INTELLECTUAL type of movie. It is my experience that peoole are roughly divided into thre camps - even the critics and film reviewers.
One - the peop,le who think Sci-fi is comic type rayguns and spaceships and filmed in CGI so is enttertaining rubbish. The secon are those in denial - they just cant't imagine they would be involved in anything bad, especially unexplainable. The third group condider the promulgated idea and consider what if.
The Happening I tnhink of as nature defending itself and the dialogue is approx what people not realising their situtation would act and speak, and the sort of actions they might take.
(look at the different reactions of people to the COVID 19 outbreak some disbelief, some conspiricy theory, some defying public safety issues. Something equally unseen produces exotic reactions compared to normal behaviour.)