Rating: 3.5/5
Hooptober 2.0 | 7/31 | Countries 2/5 | Taiwan
It’s morning in Taipei City. Jim and Kat lay in bed together. They had planned a trip together, but Jim forgot and scheduled a meeting with a German ad agency. He intends to speak with his boss and skip it.
While eating a leftover baozi with sweet chili sauce, Jim watches a YouTube video discussing the Alvin virus. The government and most citizens don’t take it seriously, comparing it to a mild flu. However, several medical experts see the potential for the disease to mutate into something more deadly, citing the similarities in the protein structures of it and rabies.
Outside, Jim sees a gray-haired woman in a white gown standing on the roof. He calls out to see if she’s alright. When she turns around, blood has splattered across her gown and her eyes are dark with red rings around them. Jim’s neighbor, Mr. Lin, comes outside with sniffles, claiming the virus is a hoax. When Jim’s attention returns to the other roof, the woman has disappeared.
Jim takes Kat to the train station on his motorcycle. They pass a crime scene where the police pin down a red-eyed man and a bloodied sheet covers a body on a gurney. Jim offers to cook for Kat that night when she gets home from work. Passing the crime scene again, he sees an abandoned police car with the lights still on.
Jim goes to his regular cafe to get a coffee. While he waits, the woman he saw earlier enters the store. A customer checks on her. She turns around and spits a thick mucus on his face. She turns around, grabs the basket where fries are cooking, and pours it over the employee’s head. The hot oil melts his face. She pulls the skin from his face with intense fascination. Jim stops her only to notice that the customer she spat on has pinned his friend down and stabs his friend repeatedly in the neck.
When Jim runs outside, he notices the same black eyes and frenzied looks on several people. The infection has mutated. Can Jim escape? Will Kat be okay? Will they be able to reunite amidst the unfolding chaos?
This movie is brutal! It has a warning beforehand letting you know how graphic it will be, and I appreciate it. Though CGI assists in some more dangerous stunts, the effects look mostly practical. It’s not realistic — they’re going for over-the-top shock over groundedness.
The film holds up several forms of predatory behavior next to each other, some more subtle than others. What is the difference between a man who won’t leave a woman alone on a train vs. one who chases her down with an axe? One makes their intentions clearer, but both act on a sense of entitlement to the woman.
In that way, this film comes across as quite misanthropic — who can you trust when everyone is out to get you? But the pandemic breaks out the way it does BECAUSE of a lack of trust. By assuming the worst intentions in people, a disease shows the worst in people. Our isolation and our inability to communicate turn the world into monsters.
The score also hits pretty hard, opting to only go big at pivotal moments.
Plenty of people believe that the organizing principles of civilization are the only things keeping people from raping and killing as they please. This movie shows that it wouldn’t take much to fall apart. Things are pretty shit, but not THIS shit.