When was the last time that you washed your hands? What did you touch last? How many times do you touch your face within the span of a minute? These are just some of the questions that will swirl inside your head after watching Contagion (2011).

Summary

The movie is about a new and highly contagious virus that causes havoc around the globe. No, the people don’t turn into zombies, but a lot of people do get sick… and die.

But that’s just the beginning of the horror because once the news spreads and more people get affected, chaos hits every city and people become desperate for self-survival. Citizens steal from each other, gang up on pharmacies, resign from their jobs and try to save their own skin. People become greedy for life and survival and the result is more catastrophic than the virus itself.

The attack

It kinda feels like a documentary at some points. Scenes are very realistic and the snapshots of reality are hauntingly real. Contagion deals with more than just the virus- it shows how governments will react, how stock markets get affected, how news outfits handle the stories and how people from the medical industry respond when faced with such a great threat. It even shows how the blogosphere hums and buzzes with stories and conspiracies. It also gives a peak on how people get personally affected by catastrophes and how they try to cope when disaster strikes. The movie is a real eye opener on how society can break down within just a few weeks.

Quick bullets coming:

[SPOILER ALERT!]

• I loved Matt Damon’s performance. He didn’t seem to be acting at all. Very natural.
• The angle about the teenage daughter and her boyfriend wanting to be together despite the chaos is a charming and innocent aspect that is more than welcomed by the audience
• I found it ridiculous that  when they finally found a cure for MEV-1, the US government decided to have a lottery to determine who gets the medicine first. It’s a ridiculous thought, but one that is believable. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
• I wonder how bloggers worldwide are reacting to Jude Law‘s character, Alan Krumwiede? They must be seething in anger, but in  a way, also hiding in the shame of the truth that there are a lot of bloggers who choose profit over relevant content.
• Kate Winslet is a very good actress.
• The scene inside the local pharmacy where people lined up for limited medicine, only to be sabotaged by unruly thugs was really moving. It reflects how people become so illogical in times of desperation. “Excuse me, there’s a line over here”
• I loved it that in the end, the creators of the movie, decided to reveal how the virus finally came to be transported to humans.
• There were a lot of history and medical lessons in the movie but despite sounding like a Discovery Science episode, I really welcomed the lessons and they added up to the horror of being so close to reality.

Last thoughts

Contagion has a stellar cast and a brilliant story line. It’s backed up by realistic science and a believable premise. I was scared silly, but I really loved the movie. I highly recommend it!

Epilogue:

Once the movie ended, the cinema seemed eerily quiet. The audience was obviously as spooked as I was. Afterwards, I decided to go the bathroom to pee and of course wash my hands. Boy did it make me smile when I saw a lot people washing their hands with soap… and in longer time spans too. A couple of ladies even  said, “You watched Contagion ‘noh?”. The other answered with, “Oo, natakot nga ako eh. Kaya maghuhugas talaga ako ng kamay. Haha!”

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