This review was written in March 2020. By this time, the world has been bogged down by a pandemic for about a month. Today’s news and case counts are eerily similar to the epidemic that strikes the globe in the 2011 movie Contagion.
I saw this movie during its original run at the theatre and remember I didn’t like it. Amazingly my in-laws bought it, so it’s the house DVD collection. Since everything is chaos right now, I thought it was time to revisit a movie I knew I didn’t like.
After a second viewing, my opinion hasn’t changed. This movie sucked. However, with the state of the world, I was able to sit back and notice the differences and similarities to that pandemic and the one we currently find ourselves in.
Watching the film with my wife, who is a nurse, provided some much needed medical insight, into what is real and what was made up for drama purposes. She pointed out that a lot of the dialogue is real, and the handling of the outbreak is pretty bang on. We both questioned how dramatic the global population got, that people are walking around in self-contained breathing suits, and everyone died or left their homes unattended. There were countless scenes when robbers killed for crumbs, and no one has picked up garbage in forever.
You feel bad for a handful of characters, while you scratch your head at some of the others’ actions. I don’t think our world will ever end up like the world portrayed in the movie, but there’s no telling what could happen.
I understand that views of Contagion have skyrocketed since the outbreak became big news. Let me rest assure you, though, that there are, in fact, better virus movies out there, and yes that includes zombie movies. The only positive thing I can say about the film is, it could be our future if we don’t act accordingly. 3/10
Ten Stars or Less 