Happening (France) (12/24)

While Happening takes place in 1963 France, its subject feels terrifyingly present in the United States of 2022. The film, based on a novel by this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature Annie Ernaux, follows a young woman named Anne who finds herself pregnant and weighing her options. After debuting at the Venice International Film Festival to rave reviews, it arrived in the US earlier this spring, in the thick of the Roe v. Wade reversal. Anne, played masterfully by Anamaria Vartolomei, watches as her life wanders away from the course she’d planned for herself, but realizes that to get an abortion is not only difficult, but illegal. This brutal catch-22 is playing out now across the US, as many areas push for abortions to become less and less accessible (especially for young, poor, and minority individuals). While this is not an easy sit, it is a necessary and timely one.