Contagion Pre-Screening

My husband and I went to the pre-screening of Contagion and I have to say , it is not at all what I expected.

I thought it would be a thriller about a dangerous disease that spreads and kills many people. It was.

But it was also unintentionally funny, slow paced, yet chilling.

This could happen. This does happen.

Of course the film is a "worst case scenario", but it is easily relatable as references to SARS and H1N1 are used to compare the reality of this potential, which makes viewers nervous.

It has the feel of an indie film but with all-star cast.

Camera angles on things as simple as grabbing a glass of water, holding a bus pole, pushing a s stray hair off your face, imply the ease in which diseases can spread.

I applaud the writers for explaining some background on how and what determines different types of diseases danger, as well as comparing past epidemic's to this fictional one.

What lacked for me was the seemingly scattered sub-plots that never fully developed, nor connected.

Matt Damon's family suffers from the disease, Lawrence Fishburne supports Kate Winslet's character at the CDC and makes difficult and morally questionable decisions. Jude Law is a freelance writer who is on top of the story from day one while Marion Cotillard finds herself in a precarious position admist the quickly spreading disease and Gwenyth Paltrow's character seems to hold the key to where it all started.

The stories of these characters are cleverly told from Day 2 onward showing how the disease affects their lives. It also explores how the world reacts to the news, how governments try to deal with the disease and how the vaccinations are developed and distributed.

Overall, I do not reccommend this movie to anyone with even a touch of germ-a-phobia. But, if you are interested in science or an interesting film that is chilling in a most unusual way - check it out! The acting is great, it has an indie-movie feel and some suprises as well as some unexpected (and perhaps unintentional) humour.

Have you seen it? What did you think?