This movie is full of stars. This epic new biological thriller features massive names like Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, and Bryan Cranston (the dad in Malcolm in the Middle).
The movie starts off with Gwyneth Paltrow’s character falling deeply ill after returning from abroad. Soon after, she dies in hospital, and her son dies minutes later. Soon enough, an epidemic begins to spread in cities all over the world. The virus is virtually unstoppable and kills millions around the world.
Lawrence Fishburne and Kate Winslet are CDC agents, Jude Law is an influential blogger, Matt Damon is Gwenyth Platrow’s oblivious husband and Marion Cotillard (HOT) is the WHO epidemiologist. In other words, each character tells a part of the story and most of the characters never cross paths in the story. The story is told from the perspective of a helpless patient, a hopeless professional, a skeptical blogger (who I am NOTHING like btw) and other angles on the same pandemic, making the storytelling rationale of this movie special.
The movie doesn’t dwell on the normal cliche of governments wanting to weed out a tiny population for the greater good, with the hero coming to the rescue at the last minute. In Contagion, millions of people die, and the rest wait patiently for a cure or vaccine. It also taps into the conspiracy theories that are fashionable today, like stupid socialists and communists claiming pharmaceutical companies are creating artificial viruses to make profits.
In other words, this is a proud addition to the epidemic thriller movies club. The star-studded, well-written and original movie will swell the theater’s bathrooms after the final credits run. Why? Because everyone is going to run there hysterically and feverishly wash their hands, avoiding contact with other people and running home with a bucket of ice-cream and hope you’re gonna be immune to the next super-virus.
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
My Rating: 8/10 (I’m a biologist after all…)
