Written by: Scott Z Burns
Starring: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Gywneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen an interesting apocalyptic film. In 2009 we were given 2012 (dir. Roland Emmerich), an action pact, CGI filled end-of-the-world drama. In 2004, the same director gave us The Day After Tomorrow, a drama centred on the global warming crisis. On the 21st October this year Contagion hit the cinemas, offering us a more realistic representation of a deadly pandemic.
The film follows the stories of different people across the world as an un-known and extremely lethal virus spreads rabidly across the global population. As a group of scientists and doctors at the Centre for Disease Control work around the clock to solve the problem before it takes over, husband and father Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) struggles to deal with the growing epidemic as it takes his family members and an obsessed blogger (Jude Law) continues to claims he has the solution.
As you might guess from the plot, this doesn’t exactly sound like your average apocalyptic film. And it really isn’t. What’s interesting about Contagion is that it constantly flirts with the idea of this epidemic-turned-pandemic becoming the end of the population as we know it, but rather the battle between intelligence, paranoia, fear and the virus.
The cast-list is truly outstanding with a collection of well-known actors from America, Europe and England. It’s rare to see so many well-known faces on the screen together; you would think that they might struggle to each get their deserved screen-time, (with the exception of Marion Cotillard whose story was the most-moving but least seen). Contagion is a character story, it’s about the personal struggles as much as it is about the growing pandemic, and at certain times even more so. However, I do wonder if this film would have generated as much interest or success without its cast-list.
Contagion offers us something completely different. It is subtly dramatic, quietly heart-breaking and will leave you leaping for your hand sanitizer every time you touch a door-knob. Whilst some may find the film too slow-paced for their liking and lacking a sense of real urgency, it will almost definitely leave you feeling rather insecure about the public transport in London, as well as the state of your student house and the state of hygiene of your various roommates.
Overall, for some Contagion may be too slow-paced and lack any action or real thrill, but the acting is nothing less than captivating, with a story that is unsettlingly realistic and will leave you forever attached to your hand wash.
Francesca’ Star-rating: 4*s
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