Contagion (2011) Review

The more I think about it, the more I realize that all of humanity takes the biggest risks in life by just stepping outside of their homes. Have you ever thought about how many people in one day may have touched every doorknob, counter top, hand rail, telephone, or keyboard that we utilize in daily life? Have you ever thought about what percentage of those people could possibly be carrying some kind of disease? Yet, we still carry out our daily lives like utilizing all that stuff won't do us any harm. Now, director Steven Soderbergh, best known for the Ocean's trilogy, has created a film that sets up that possibility and may just have people trapped in their homes until their next doctor's appointment. Contagion is a solid thriller that utilizes the many aspects of its intriguing premise quite well.



The film starts off by following Beth Emhoff, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. She comes home from a trip to Chicago (and apparently, she was in Hong Kong too), but just moments after she comes home, she has a seizure and is immediately sent to a hospital. The doctors confirm to her husband, Mitch, played by Matt Damon, that she is dead, and soon, he finds that his stepson dies in the exact same way. It is soon found out that this disease they die from is infecting and killing people nationwide. Dr. Ellis Cheever, played by Laurence Fishburne, and many other doctors and officers are attempting to find out what the disease is, where it originated, and how to cure it. Meanwhile, schools are being evacuated, and most people are attempting to stay in their homes to prevent infection. Mitch in particular is trying to keep his daughter inside the house and away from her boyfriend. Most of the world turns to a blogger named Alan Krumwiede, played by Jude Law, who claims that he has found a cure for the disease. Because he's the only one who claims to have found a cure, the government issues that this vaccine of his gets created into mass production.


While Contagion isn't quite as edgy as it could've been, there are still some plot points that are equally as dramatic as the premise suggests. At first, I thought it was a little farfetched that the world would believe a typical blogger as opposed to the well-educated doctors, but once I thought about it more, I realized that that's actually pretty realistic. For one thing, this blogger is actually doing something to help the world while the doctors are seemingly making no progress on finding a cure. He even states on the news that the world is in peril and that the doctors are just standing around while thousands of people are dying. The plot line with Mitch's daughter is pretty dramatic as well. She doesn't want this disease to prevent her from spending time doing the things that she finds fun. She would rather go out, have fun, and die of the disease than be trapped in her home in an attempt to survive.


Contagion is a solid thriller that manages to utilize every possible outcome suggested by its intriguing premise. The performances are exceptional, and though some people might say that they're flat, their portrayal is pretty realistic, like you're seeing real people as opposed to just actors. The directorial style is very well-established, letting us know when and where the film takes place through subtitles and also telling us the full path of the disease through its well-edited cinematography. And like I said, while it's not quite as gripping as it could've been, it utilizes a lot of dramatic plot lines that make it more than exceptional. If you're still game for the fall season of cinema, definitely check it out.