Contagion 2011
I remember when this movie came out in 2011, but felt like maybe it had already been covered by movies like Andromeda Strain and Outbreak. Just a week after the Covid-19 shutdown, I was given a digital copy and finally watched it after six months, with Covid very much still a big news story. This movie is like a fictionalized version of 2020. The virus in Contagion is much more virulent and deadly than Covid-19, and therefore more apocalyptic, but also interesting to compare this fictional version to what we are living through right now. They show a person early on stocking up on groceries, for instance, but she doesn’t get toilet paper. One guy is exposed to the virus but doesn’t get sick, so he goes around the rest of the movie not wearing a mask, but that excuse wouldn’t get you into a grocery store today.
Mostly the movie follows a few victims and then a number of scientists looking for a cure, primarily CDC and WHO. We don’t hear much from politicians, though Homeland Security gets involved and there is martial law. There are a lot of things in the movie that are very familiar now, including conspiracies and people promoting unproven remedies. It largely gets things right, but despite what seems to be a more difficult virus to deal with, they say they can develop a vaccine in weeks, whereas with Covid the number thrown around was 18 months, which may be compressed to twelve, but in the movie that amount of time would have left about 25% of the people in the world dead. There is a really good cast at work with some big stars brought in given that Steven Soderbergh is the director.
The problem with the movie now is that it feels almost superfluous. The news covers similar issues every day. However, there are some good characters, performances, and the movie stays interesting, if a little predictable. Despite the movie’s virus being more deadly, the movie doesn’t feel quite as tragic, which is maybe a good thing. Likewise, the movie could have tried to be more dramatic and intense, but seems a little more detached or cerebral, which I appreciated. Definitely worth watching.
Written: 06 Oct 2020
Owned on: Digital