Contagion is one of those rare films’s that blends accuracy
and action beautifully. The film is a realistic look at how a virus can spread in
our modern society and shows the worst case scenario of how a relatively small outbreak
can quickly spread and become and an epidemic.
The film starts out simply enough and shows a businesswoman,
Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) on her way home after a business trip and an
affair, she’s sick we later find out she’s patient zero and the infection spirals
out from her, she infects her son who infects other children in his school,
however the father, Mitch Emhoff (Matt Damon) is immune to the virus. Beth’s
condition worsens and she’s rushed to hospital where she dies, when Matt goes
home he finds his son has also died from the same illness. We then see that the
CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) and WHO (World Health
Organisation) are both tracking the outbreak of a as yet identified virus in
China, the same place Beth was on her business trip. The WHO then send Dr.
Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) as their representative to China to try and
find out the epicentre of the virus. Homeland security fearing that the virus
maybe a biological weapon being used on the eve of Thanksgiving contact the CDC
for advice. Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) a conspiracy theorist, posts videos about
the disease on his blog.
This is one of those films with several interlinking stories
that you either love or hate and while it isn’t hard to follow the over arching
story, you do have to pay attention. Seems as though most people haven’t seen
this film I won’t spoil it but I will try and summarise up the rest of the
story.
Basically the scientists struggle to find a cure for the
virus and eventually do find one, however in the mean time the disease spreads
and society decays and worst aspects in society are shown. This is a very
gritty film but well worth the watch.
So rating, I’d give this film a 8/10 it mightn’t be for
everyone but I feel most people will enjoy it, especially scientists.
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