Contagion (2011)

07 Sep 2023

Rating: 3/5

Why can't they invent a shot that keeps time from passing?

A deadly disease spreads, creating an epidemic and mass hysteria

The movie is well-researched — with how many echoes from this that we have experienced since COVID-19 began, it’s hard not to mistake that research for prescience

If expert research is all it took to make a movie, this would be a home run. But Soderberg’s inability to imagine human responses to trauma leaves the whole thing feeling cruel and sterile — the exception is a scene near the end, inexplicably scored by U2, that feels pulled from a different movie and appended

I would expect a lingering shot of a dead child covered in vomit or the camera making eye contact with a woman as doctors saw her skull open from an exploitation flick. In many ways, this is one

Maybe the only movie Soderberg has made where the puke green/yellow tint he gives everything makes sense

Overall, this is a well-structured film with solid cinematography, but it is one that left me feeling cold


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