When I came into the theater expecting “Contagion” to be just another movie, it never crossed my mind that with one single touch, you would be condemned to death. Director Steven Soderbergh makes Contagion a movie made up with real life facts and risks that you never thought would be that serious. A guy coughing in a crowded area. Sharing drinks. Shaking hands. Hugging. Laughing. Talking. Touching objects. Being close to someone. All different ways of how the people got infected. From feeling bad to dying before knowing the reason why.
Businesswoman Beth Emhoff, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, comes back from a trip to Hong Kong with a disease that will later cause the death of half of the world. What she thought were jet lag symptoms turned out to be something more. Paltrow’s role in the movie was the first one to shock the audience with her amazing performance. She did an awesome job introducing the overall theme, and creating the suspense of the movie. Beth’s husband Mitch Emhoff, played by Matt Damon, was ignorant of his wife’s actions during the trip. Later on he creates the drama by building up the truth throughout the movie. Researchers found out that the disease Beth had was a virus that was going to spread more and more quickly with time. Afraid that Mitch Emhoff could be infected the U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention rapidly kept him from society for observation. After being released, his first priority became to take care of his young daughter. Determined to protect her, Emhoff kept his daughter in the house and by his side at all times. People around the world started getting sick and dying. It was first one, then two, then 16, then half of the world was infected. The disease had become an uncontrollable epidemic. Society started breaking down because the world was running out of basic needs for the people to survive. Journalist Alan Krumwiede, played by Jude Law, started the mystery in the movie. He also made people start panicking even more by his comments about the disease. The director of the U.S Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Cheever, played by Laurence Fishburne, was blamed of keeping the “truth” from society.
Throughout the movie, the breakdown of society became more and more intense. Dead bodies were found everywhere. At this point, dial 911 added the notification of someone dead, and the request for removal of bodies. The disease became more powerful and more contagious. When researches finally found the vaccine that will cure everyone, people were determined to do anything to get it.
“One contact. One instant. And a lethal virus is transmitted.” My favorite quote from the movie that explains it really well. Contagion is a really interesting movie that would leave you wanting to know more and more. If you are not a person who likes movies about research, and the suspense of the connecting dots movie style, then I don’t guarantee you will like this movie. I liked the movie because of all the information, drama, and suspense in it. Also I think that when a movie is good, it leaves you wondering about what would happen if this becomes an event in real life, and it sure made me think twice before touching objects and being around sick people. I still feel the necessity to clean the surfaces I’m going to touch and wash my hands every time I can.
