Contagion

Film: Contagion

Year: 2011

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Writer: Scott Z. Burns

Starring: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law

Review:

This was a film that I saw when working at Family Video. I don’t think that I connected that it was directed by Steven Soderbergh. I took this home as a pre-street and it was terrifying. I’ll go ahead and preface here, this isn’t necessarily a horror film. What it is though is a scary look at how ineffective government and how selfish humanity is. Since we’ve lived through a pandemic, to something that isn’t as deadly as what we get here, it is interesting to revisit. This watch was done as an Odyssey through the Ones.

Synopsis: as an epidemic of a lethal airborne virus - that kills within days - rapidly grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.

This film jumps around to different cities, but originates in Hong Kong. A woman was there on business, but has left for the states. She is Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow). She looks sick and is at a bar in the airport. She is talking with someone on the phone. It is from there that she returns home to her husband, Mitch (Matt Damon). She has a son from a previous relationship, Clark (Griffin Kane), who Mitch has grown close to.

We get a look at a few other people. There is a woman in London, a guy going home to Tokyo and then one who lives in China. All of them have contracted what she has.

Back in Minnesota, we see Beth dealing with her symptoms. Mitch is glad to see her, but that turns to being distraught when she dies from her illness. He can’t even truly comprehend what happened, since they were just talking at home. Clark also dies before Mitch can make it home. The doctors are baffled and contact the CDC. Mitch is put into isolation to see if he is infected.

The CDC is where Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) works and he calls in a field agent to run the operation in Minnesota. He selects Erin Mears (Kate Winslet). She goes to stop it from spreading by gathering as much information as she can and try to chart how it ended up here. When she becomes sick herself, this horrible situation has become even bleaker.

There is also a freelancer blogger who has been following the story of the man on the Tokyo train who died in the same way as Beth. The journalist is Alan Krumwlede (Jude Law). He is a conspiracy theorist and is convinced the government is behind the illness. He also believes its spread is by design as well.

The World Health Organization gets involved too, sending Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard), to where it originated. She starts by looking at a casino that Beth came to. The CDC also contracts two doctors in a lab, Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) and David Eisenberg (Demetri Martin), to see what they can learn about this new virus. They also send it off to a private doctor, Ian Sussman (Elliott Gould), who does his own analysis.

It is a race against time as this virus continues to spread. How quickly it kills makes it even scarier. We also see both sides of humanity, as people try to make the most of what time they have left, as well as people breaking protocol to protect those that they love.

That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Now where I want to start is bringing back up that living through a pandemic and then watching it makes this even more real. Even crazier to think that this originated a decade before that happened. I’d bet that things that happened with the Spanish flu contributed to being a part of the basis. I will also use this quick disclaimer; COVID was deadly but nowhere near the virus we get here.

Now that I’ve set that up, what makes this hit even harder is seeing the realism of how quickly the world breaks down. There is also the idea that when people’s lives are changed, how we resist. There is also when panic sets in and seeing people begin to loot or attack others, even over small things. Fighting for individual survival is part of that. We also see people taking advantage of their position, like Dr. Cheever shares classified information with Aubrey (Sanaa Lathan). He did it from a good place, but also it is selfish.

Something else to also include is how it is possible for a random variation of a virus could be as devastating as it is here. Alan is convinced that it is a bio-weapon. I love that we get to see how it actually starts at the very end. That brings back up to the concept of misinformation and how dangerous it is. This is even more evident with the rise of AI or just political figures claiming things that we can see or hear as not being real.

Another element then would be the ineffectiveness of bureaucracy. It has its place. Without science and doing things the right way, this could result in people getting sick or even cause people to lose faith. It could also prevent people from being saved. I love how we see multiple characters breaking rules for the sake of humanity. Sometimes people need to get bold for the sake of survival.

The film's tagline, "nothing spreads faster than fear," is realized through the themes of societal breakdown, panic, and paranoia due to broken trust. Key themes include the proliferation of false information by 'alt-experts,' government information control exacerbating the spread of negativity, the clarity it brings to scientific concepts, the terrifying randomness of survival, the conflict between professional ethics and protecting family, and ultimately, humanity being responsible for the crisis.

Where I’ll then go next would be the filmmaking. The cinematography and framing were good. A good touch is to establish the major cities that will take place, giving us what their populations are. We then have excellent editing to jump between different things to develop each of the stories until they ultimately all crash together. The practical effects to see how this virus wears on people adds to the horror. It is done in a realistic manner. Other than that, the sound design fit what was needed.

Then the stellar ensemble cast delivers strong performances. Cotillard traces the virus but exposes corruption with what is done to get her out of China. Damon's character, Beth's husband, shields his daughter, Jory. He has a bitter pill to swallow with reveals he learns. Fishburne's actions to control the situation damage his credibility. Law, an alt-journalist, creates chaos. Winslet, Ehle, Gould, and Martin are problem-solvers racing to stop the virus. Paltrow, Cranston, Ng Chin Han, Hawkes, Lathan, and others complete the supporting cast.

In summary, this remains a chillingly prescient and effective thriller, elevated by Soderbergh's restrained direction and a phenomenal ensemble cast. Its strength lies not just in the terrifying realism of the virus's spread and its physical toll, but in its profound exploration of human nature under duress—highlighting the breakdown of societal order, the dangers of misinformation, and the ethical conflicts faced by those trying to save humanity. Watching it now, post-pandemic, only sharpens its critique of bureaucracy and the unsettling truth that fear often proves the most contagious element of all. It is a compelling and thought-provoking film that uses the horror of a fictional pandemic to reflect the complexities and vulnerabilities of our modern world.

My Rating: 9 out of 10