On September 9, 2011, movie-goers all over the world were frantically washing their hands and quarantining themselves after seeing the thrilling movie, Contagion.  Produced by Warner Brothers Studios, Contagion features a renowned cast of actors such as Matt Damon, Gweneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, and Jude Law. 

Contagion’s story explores four different groups of people and how they deal with the deadly virus running rampant throughout the movie. The four groups that are featured in the story are a father and daughter quarantining, the CDC, and their fight to make a vaccine, a WHO doctor helping a poor village in China and, a corrupt investigative journalist who only makes the situation worse. 

The film weaves all of these individual stories together so that the viewer can see first hand how a deadly virus, through fear, lies, and ignorance, can become a global pandemic.

One cool aspect of this movie is that it isn’t just a thriller but a mystery. Contagion begins on the second day of the outbreak, and throughout the movie, the characters and the viewers are left guessing about how the virus began. By the end of the movie, the viewers are shown the first day of the outbreak and how it was spread to humans. In the case of Contagion, the virus was spread to a human via a pork dish that was contaminated by a cook that didn’t wash his hands before preparing food. 

The virus featured Contagion is novel, which means it is a virus not seen ever seen before, and it is named, MEV-1. The virus is far deadlier than diseases found in the real world, like COVID-19 because it is airborne, spreads on surfaces, and it attacks a victim by, essentially, eating a person’s brain stem. 

One of the reasons this movie is so interesting to watch now, especially during the COVID 19 outbreak, is because of the similarities between our current situation and the one in the film. Throughout the film, we see how social distancing orders are given to the population, how essential personnel is called in for work, and there are even geological similarities between the Coronavirus and MEV-1. 

Keep in mind however that MEV-1 is far deadlier than COVID-19 and although our situations are similar, the virus is nowhere close, in terms of danger, to the Corona virus.

Although this film didn’t get much coverage when it first reached theaters I would say that it deserves a viewing, especially during this time of quarantine. Not only is the cinematography great but the thrilling nature of the film adds an added layer of suspense to the story and watching it now allows the viewer to have an added sense of emersion into the story. 

Contagion is available to be rented or purchased anywhere where you can do so like iTunes, the Google Play Store, and even on Youtube. I would highly recommend watching Contagion especially if you are looking for things to do during your quarantining. I would give this a 7/10 if there wasn’t a global pandemic but because of our current situation, I give this film a solid 9/10. 

P.S-Stay Safe, wash your hands and, STAY HOME 

P.P.S-I’m so bored that if you send me movies you are watching I will review them!!!!