Contagion

As I watch this film many months into COVID and at the end of my infectious disease/immunology unit in medical school, I'm in awe of how accurate of a portrayal this is of a pandemic. It's truly incredible how many things in this movie come to fruition nearly a decade later. It's a testament to the writer, director, and most of all the scientists who were consulted for this movie.

The film itself is fascinating and fast-moving. Bolstered by an all-star cast, the movie is brutally realistic and unflinching in its bleak view of how quickly a virus can spread throughout populations. Matt Damon anchors the cast and keeps the human drama at the forefront. All of the science used in the film is very accurate and also very easy for anyone to understand. Contagion is a tense, brilliant thriller which isn't the typical three act movie, but a more focused look at the scary potential of a global pandemic.

Okay, there's bound to be a lot of similarities with this film to the Novel Coronavirus outbreak that's now reaching around the globe with rapid speed. Of course, "Contagion", being a Hollywood film, the virus spread much faster than the real thing as well as caused way more fatalities. As of this writing (2.21.2020) there are 77,767 cases with 2,360 deaths and 20,833 recovered around the world. And that's pretty fast for a virus that was just recognized 12.31.2019 - not even two months ago. Some of the ideas and behaviors in "Contagion" seemed far fetched, but in the end, it wasn't really that bad of a production consideration the nature of virus infections tend to be mysterious and unknown in the first place.

Not much to say that hasn't been already… the critics are right, it is an effective slick movie that may be a bit slight as far as character development but doesn't suffer too badly for it. This is a movie far more about ideas than people and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Excellent direction from Soderbergh, masterful cinematography, and while there are a few logical mis-steps, the writing more than makes up for that by confounding expectations more than once in truly creative and credible ways.

Unfortunately trailers have many seeking an action thrill-ride, when what it delivers for the most part is a slow boiling suspenseful drama. When will Hollywood learn that setting expectations that don't match the product may sell a few extra tickets in the beginning, but hurts word of mouth and user reviews which are needed for the success of a film beyond the opening weekend.

People wanted a thrill. People wanted action. People wanted character development. Those elements weren't the intent, however. I'd have to admit expecting an action from the marketing materials and the poster, but I don't judge movies over a preconceived notion or genre. Without throwing out spoilers, I was happy to see that it's more of an ensemble cast than a Matt Damon flick, considering his small role. Yeah, he's Gwyneth's husband, but so what? It was a good analysis on how our country, and the world at large, would react to a real medical epidemic. We saw a few overblown pandemics the last few years with H1N1 and swine flu, and I believe this movie is a what-if thought experiment on steroids. They even paid homage to the real world examples near the conclusion. Granted, the real world issues turned out to be media overhype more than a real medical scare and I believe the movie covered the media in a brilliant way. I liked this movie because it was a societal study rather than just an updated 'Outbreak.' Regarding character development, there really wasn't a place for it in this movie. The only thing that touches it was the budding relationship between the two youngsters. On the other hand, I could, just as easily, write that off as a symbol of human strength, desire, and endurance since it survived the epidemic from beginning to the end. Favorite actor for the movie: Jude Law. He really sunk his teeth into his role and I really wanted to hate him. Great job.

Stephen Soderbergh's latest direction, "Contagion" (2011), even though bringing less than expected excitement, is an absorbing movie to watch, efficient as a social and behavioural study, but no less as an accomplished collection of individual case studies, offering sufficiently thought-provoking arguments, such as the fact that--despite all the scientific advances and exhaustive efforts of the thousands of specialists--humankind still stands pretty helpless in the prevention of new viral outbreaks and their many strains occurring globally, when even seemingly well organised societies easily slip into chaos, leaving all individuals to fend for themselves in the ultimate fight for survival, all further fuelled by unstoppable leaks (however, lucrative sensationalism, as well) on an almost inevitable, mutually supportive (money and power shouldn't mix, but mostly they do) corporal and governmental cover-ups. Surely it is a disturbing reminder that even at the most difficult of times, humanity's good traits still get so easily overpowered by the seed of all evil--selfishness and greed.

Many good actors partake in the movie: Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Jennifer Ehle, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Elliott Gould, to name a few, though one cannot expect remarkable character development when action is dispersed and story spread on so many leads. Nevertheless, Soderbergh knows how to make people count and, albeit somewhat shy about it, he's sufficiently confident in decisive difference their increasingly frequent, self-sacrificing actions could make, having faith in ultimately predominant selflessness and benevolence, kindness and compassion, whether among pre-organised, or ad hoc gathered communities, down to the last individual, rediscovering--now under extreme conditions--their altruism and, as implied in a reserved hope raised towards the end, having--this way or another--humanism in humankind still prevail.

Ian Lipkin, the university professor and epidemiologist, who serves as the director of Columbia University's Center for Infection and Immunity, agreed to assist as medical consultant in the making of "Contagion" because the film was "an effort to accurately represent the science and to make a movie that would entertain as well as educate."