'Contagion' Spreads to a Theater Near You

Flu season paranoia arrives today in the form of Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, a gripping chronicle of public health crises with catastrophic implications. Keep the Purell handy, and perhaps reconsider sharing popcorn with your friends.

Realistic, sometimes even gruesome, and masterfully structured, Contagion is a chillingly affecting film. It’s also a very persuasive reminder of the importance of proper hand-washing. With yet another provocative film added to his resumé, thank goodness rumors of Soderbergh’s retirement have been grossly exaggerated. 

As isolated as we have become as a society, with a preference for texting versus actually speaking to each other, we are globally connected via a system of microscopic transfers through touch and proximity. In Contagion, with a screenplay by Scott Z. Burns (The Informant!), Soderbergh explores a global viral outbreak in vignettes that skips quickly from day to day (Day 2, Day 12, Day 21, etc.), dipping into the lives of those attempting to contain the spread of a virus and into those infected.  

On Day 2, a week before Thanksgiving, we meet Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow), a Minneapolis executive just returning from Hong Kong with what looks like a monumental case of jet lag. Matt Damon anchors the film as Beth’s husband, Mitch—an everyman seemingly immune to the illness and the audience’s only solid connection to those not involved in the fight against the novel virus that kills within hours.

An epidemiological symphony, Contagion’s movements are paralleled and pragmatically intersected. Its parts comprise the stories that touch the average citizen, a member of the media and global organizations charged with protecting the population. And, of course, there’s U.S. Homeland Security keeping an eye on everyone. Control is the motivation here—gaining control of the virus and its spread, and, most importantly, the control of information in an age where one tweet or status update can spark mass hysteria.

CDC head Dr. Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) leads America’s front along with field agent Dr. Mears (Kate Winslet), who’s sent to Minneapolis to investigate. Back at the CDC lab, an amusing duo played by Jennifer Ehle (The King’s Speech) and Demetri Martin (The Daily Show, Taking Woodstock) provide the scientific muscle and subsequently kill many monkeys with the goal of developing a vaccine. Marion Cotillard (Midnight in Paris) plays an epidemiologist from WHO sent to Hong Kong to find Patient Zero. Jude Law is an Aussie blogger named Alan Krumwiede who vows to expose the truth behind the epidemic that is clearly transitioning to pandemic.

Meanwhile, Mitch, who knows nothing more than what the evening news relays, takes the isolationist route or extreme “social distancing” strategy to keep his daughter safe.

There are many potential movies contained in Contagion, but the fun here is how seamlessly they are all patched together.

Soderbergh manages to avoid gimmickry through polished storytelling that moves fast and hits deep. Contagion never reaches that apocalyptic climax of a true disaster movie, though it certainly alludes to the very real possibility. Instead, it explores a more likely scenario. The cities are hit hard first, and with no vaccine in sight after a few months, the virus mutates and spreads exponentially. A 35 percent mortality rate means that there are just enough uninfected folks to ensure that the power is still on and that army rations get to people since the grocery stores have been looted.

Logistics are not dwelled upon, and if one is looking for lapses in logic in the minutia, a few can be found. Frankly, the fact that Mitch’s teenage daughter still makes up her bed after more than 100 days stuck in the house with her dad bothers me more than other plot pinholes.

Ehle and Martin’s exchanges over microscopes and fancy computers are brief, but provide a fascinating mix of small talk and science jargon that sounds solid enough for a layman, anyway. Ehle’s presence calls to mind Sigourney Weaver with her square jaw, thin lips and sparkle in her eyes. Martin’s deadpan is welcome, and he’s wholly convincing as a nerd in a contamination suit.

Winslet and Cotillard bring grace and power to small, but integral roles. Law is manic as the closest thing to a villain in this story (not counting the virus, of course) who profits from the dissemination of inflammatory theories about the virus while ensuring his place on the talk show circuit. But, Damon is the heart of this massive intellectual exercise. In a decidedly unromanticized role, Damon once again reminds us that his best years are well head of him. 

John Hawkes and Bryan Cranston are underused in very small roles, but Contagion is proof that the old saying about small parts and small actors is absolutely accurate. The ensemble is rounded out with hundreds of extras and minuscule roles and that, combined with shooting on location, gives the film its stark realism.  

As we follow the virus, some of the more stylized cinematography of the film illuminates the bug’s path. Clever integration of casino surveillance footage brings Patient Zero’s story alive. And inclusion of the infected person’s perspective—alone in their bubble, unable to clearly see the world as the virus overpowers them—is subtle, but devastating.

The privileges of the elite and powerful are eloquently analyzed. Their advantages are never more apparent than with issues of health and access to health care. This is brilliantly illustrated when an infected front line CDC worker cannot be transported back to Atlanta because a senator requires the designated aircraft equipped with a quarantine pod. But death is an objective force in Contagion and makes for a few shocking victims.

At times, the grim scenario could easily serve as a prequel to The Road (the novel more than the problematic film adaptation). In other scenes, the all-star cast makes it feel like Towering Inferno.

Contagion is a sophisticated and thought-provoking infectious disease thriller that takes us around the globe with the sort of A-listers and fine actors that usually show up for Soderbergh. It’s also one of the most horrifying movies so far this year, a stark reminder that nature is really in charge. 

Contagion is now playing at:

• UA King Of Prussia Stadium 16 & IMAX, 300 Goddard Blvd., King of Prussia
• AMC Plymouth Meeting 12 494 W. Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting
• Regal Marketplace at Oaks Stadium 24, 180 Mill Road, Oaks

For more of Megan Carr’s movie reviews and media musings, visit her website at therestiscreamcheese.com.

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