Set in 1963, the film stars Anamaria Vartolomei as Anne, who experiences the emotionally and physically traumatic process of obtaining an abortion in France before it was legalized.

Happening premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2021, where it won the Golden Lion and received universal acclaim from critics.

Growing increasingly desperate, Anne attempts to perform an abortion on herself with a knitting needle on her bedroom floor, which fails.

During an interview on 23 April 2019 about her directorial debut film Losing It, screenwriter Audrey Diwan revealed she was adapting Annie Ernaux's 2000 memoir L'événement (translated as Happening), stating that the book was "very important" to her.

[2] On 29 May 2020, the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée, an agency of the French Ministry of Culture, announced they would support the film, moving the project into pre-production.

The website's consensus reads, "A tough but rewarding watch, Happening puts a personal face on an impossibly difficult choice and its heart-rending aftermath.

"[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100 based on 36 critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

[11] Guy Lodge, writing for Variety, praised the film's acting, particularly that of Anamaria Vartolomei's in the lead role that was described as "career-elevating".

[13] In an interview with the Financial Times, Diwan stated her intention to not make Happening a period piece, knowing "what my character was going through is now a current situation in many countries.

"[15] Michael O'Sullivan, a reporter and film critic for The Washington Post, states that Happening serves as a "sobering reminder that the consequences of limiting access to safe medical care aren't just theoretical but existential.