Following multiple plots in an everything-is-happening-at-the-same-time narrative, this unorthodox disaster-thriller drama starts when Mitch Emhoff's (Matt Damon) wife, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her son, Clark (Griffin Kane), died and brings about the discovery of a deadly virus that has the capability to kill off its host in days and infect other people fast. Due to the sudden appearance of this virus, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) enlists the assistance of Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) fearing that the virus is a bioweapon. In response, Cheever dispatches Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) to investigate while Dr. Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) and Dr. David Eisenberg (Demetri Martin), both a virologist, develop a vaccine. Simultaneously, conspiracy theorist Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) continue to blog about the virus' possible connection to the government and the medicine, that he claims cured him, forsythia. Meanwhile, World Health Organization's (WHO) epidemiologist Dr. Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard), who's in charge of tracking down the origin of the virus, was kidnapped by Sun Feng (Chin Han), a government official, in exchange for vaccines.
In the age of many technological advances with already a lot of medical breakthroughs been achieved, the possibility of an apocalyptic virus was never entertained by the people. But this complacency leads to the pandemic, as presented in the film, and as the authority scuffle to find a cure, the virus spread like wildfire.
"Contagion" blatantly exposes the danger of complacency, which now proved to be true even in real life. Today, the growing case of COVID-19 positive brings to the declaration of WHO to consider the virus as a pandemic. This virus has taken lives all over the world and severely crippled the economy, furthermore, it exposes the toxic pomposity of the government who continuously fund other sectors but not on medical researches and equipment.
Perhaps the very interest thing about "Contagion" is Jude Law's Alan Krumwiede, the villainous misfit in the story that seems to have a crazy Messiah complex. Krumwiede's story presented another plague in the story and that is the internet. The lack of proper information dissemination leads to people's wrongful beliefs and ultimately hysteria. It also suggested how terrifying people's collective behavior can become especially in a crisis.
If we look closely, beyond the film's indignation toward complacency there is a deeper and much more pressing concern that it wants to tell and that is greed. "Contagion" is dauntless in painting us a picture of greed and its ugly effect. From what causes the virus to the looting of the people, greed plays a huge part in creating a paranoia.
Beyond its social and political commentary and despite being considered as a disaster film, "Contagion" is actually a human drama that depicted our tendencies when presented with a virus that threatened our survival. The accidental guideline in this global pandemic.
4/5
