The Gerber Syndrome: il contagio

Once again, the same story with a lethal virus in the air, and once again, from the point of view of a documentary.

Poor film with a big influence from The Blair Witch Project (maybe the first one doing this kind of documentaries) and Rec.

It tries to be deeper, showing political interventions or social questions, but without rhythm or credibility.

Sometimes they forget it is supposed a documentary, and some of the scenes are from a cinema point of view, detracting from the credibility of the story.

Probably, the best news in the film are the two main actors playing the doctor and the security guy. They are very well, seem normal people in a very hard situation.

Finally an independent Italian film with an international appeal! The Gerber Syndrome is a clever and thrilling film, with good characters and good actors. Instead of making some regular scary film, Gerber Syndrome creates a constant, growing tension, that will stay with you even after the film is over. Even tough presented as a mockumentary, many references are absolutely real (AIDS, Swine flu, malaria...) and for one of the first times in this kind of films, the action goes in the intimacy of a family instead of showing a global epidemic. That was new to me. The subliminal soundtrack really gets under your skin! Only bad thing; in a couple of scenes the realism was a little bit lost, especially the one with the vigilantes... too bad. I'm very happy that such a film has found a proper release! Viva il cinema italiano indipendente di qualità!

I have seen this film at the Busto Arsizio Film Festival; it was the last in competition, i didn't heard much of it before the screening so i didn't know what to expect. It was a good surprise! I am not a lover of this type of films, i haven't even seen Blair witch project, but i think that wasn't just another horror flick. There was a strong message below the main story line, it made me think about these recent epidemics that we have seen in Europe and other countries, and most of all, it made me think: what would i do if i was in that situation? The acting is amazing, i knew Valentina Bartolo before, she is in an Italian TV show, but here she was so good. After a few scenes i forgot she was acting. Some scenes are so strong that made me feel a bit weird; audience should be prepared... it's not an easy film to watch. I'm afraid it will be hard for the producers to find a distribution in Italy, we are just not used to some films, but I'm sure it will be a hit in other countries.

Certainly we are not talking about a fresh concept, but the way this movie has been done is refreshing. By viewing it while being still in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic, some things seem like being written by someone who can foresee future.

The movie keeps its tension all over its duration, though slowing a bit after middle, but then rising again in the end.

Being italian myself, let me mention the performance by the actors: i hate most of italian actors because they are so dramatic, so overreacting. I have to say that 90% of the movie is acted by people who look, act and speak as regular people, and the dialogues are very realistic. I hope that translations have kept this feature intact.

Sound and music are also very good.

Some scenes suddenly shift the movie from a documentaristic point of view to a cinematic one, and this is of course weird, but all in all, also considering the clearly low budget available, this movie is simply great.

The Gerber Syndrome is shot as though it is a documentary and records the effects of a zombie-like virus and it's effects on society. If you're looking for people being attacked by zombies there isn't a lot of that. The main threat of the infected is that they might infect you too, not that they'll attack you though their irrational behaviour means they aren't totally safe to be around.

The documentary follows a doctor and a security guard and both of them seem like real people which is the real strength of this movie. The situation has been well thought through and the reactions of ordinary people are pretty credible.

I did feel the movie lost pace a bit in the middle but the ending made up for it.