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THE only thing that spreads faster than a rumour in Bahrain is the disease in this movie!
Did you know that on average, you touch your face 3,000 times a day? Neither did I until I watched this film and I reckon I probably did it 3,000 more times after finding out.
Contagion features a stellar cast and even the extras are moderately famous, I spotted so many actors from sit-coms it was almost like a convention.
One of the best things about the plot of this film is its simplicity. It follows the outbreak of a lethal and mysterious virus that kills within days. As the global medical community struggles to learn what the virus is and where it came from, society falls apart with panic.
The film chronicles the everyday people caught up in the chaos, struggling to stay alive and protect their families ... there are no big budget special effects, no big explosions, just a believable and compelling story about overcoming a pandemic.
To give viewers an idea how quickly the virus spreads, each time a new day begins it flashes up on screen. Interestingly the film is shot in a non-linear narrative and begins with ‘Day 2’ and Beth (Paltrow) in an airport bar talking on the phone to a man named John. It transpires that John is not her husband and the two are having an affair. They exchange pleasantries and she hangs up to board her flight back home.
Next there is a montage of people around the world doing mundane things like riding the bus, having coffee and basically living their lives. However, thanks to some fantastic cinematography, you get the sense that there is something sinister afoot whenever they touch or do anything.
After the montage we see a businessman in Hong Kong riding the bus and looking rather poorly, he collapses and dies and thanks to a kind-hearted individual with a camera phone it ends up on the internet.
Journalist and blogger Allen (Law) sees the clip and believes it may have something to do with a contaminated fish supply. He marches into a newspaper and presents the story to the editor who is less than impressed. Undeterred, Allen marches off swearing that the story is going to be big news.
When Beth gets home to her husband Mitch (Damon) and son Clark everyone is really happy. However, the next day Beth starts to feel ill and all of a sudden she’s convulsing on the kitchen floor in front of her terrified family.
Mitch takes her to the hospital but she dies shortly after her arrival, leaving Mitch widowed with a young son who is at home with the babysitter.
It sounds like Mitch’s day couldn’t get much worse, but it does. After a call from the babysitter saying Clark is convulsing, he rushes from the hospital only to reach home in time to see little Clark just as dead as his mother.
Mitch demands answers about what happened, and wonders if it’s a disease, why he hasn’t caught it.
Elsewhere, Dr Ellis Cheever (Lawrence Fishburne) starts his day at the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta and Dr Leonora Orantes starts her shift at the World Health Organisation in Switzerland.
Leonora gives a concerned briefing on an unidentified virus that has popped in the US, UK, Japan and China and traces Beth back to the start of the infection.
The organisations team up and try to find out more about the virus and how to cure it but with every day that passes more people become infected and more people die.
Throwing fuel on the fire, Allen sees the opportunity to profit from the virus by making wild claims on his blog… in-between chasing down information from anyone and everyone he can.
The cast all performed admirably and even my hatred for Damon couldn’t put a dampener on the film. My only complaint is that the movie overruns a lot and seemed more like two hours rather than the 106 minutes run time.
What I particularly loved about this movie is that it shows how easily deadly diseases and everyday germs can spread. From now on I will not be shaking hands, opening doors, touching tables, drinking from glasses in restaurants, eating anything prepared in Hong Kong and, as a precautionary measure, talking to Gwyneth Paltrow.
The scariest thing about Contagion is that it’s not far fetched. Outbreaks are not unheard of and in recent memory I can name at least three: Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Mad Cow disease … it looks like Farmageddon will soon be upon us!
Showing in Cineco, Seef II and Saar Cineplex
