by Dani Norton
Staff writer
Moviegoers beware: Steven Soderbergh’s “Contagion” contains absolutely zero zombies. The film has been marketed as a horror flick focusing on the eradication of the human race by the rapid spread of an unidentified disease. While that is at least part of the story, viewers may be surprised to find much more at work here.
The movie is brimming with some of the biggest names in Hollywood: Kate Winslet, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Marion Cotillard to name a few.
It centers around the development and spread of an unknown, deadly disease that kills within a few days and is highly contagious. Soon, the disease becomes a pandemic, wiping out its victims all across the globe.
Surprisingly enough, it is not the threat of human extinction that ends up being the most interesting or frightening aspect of the movie. “Contagion” is host to many disturbing ideas, none of which involve an undead scourge and perhaps least of which involve the actual disease itself.
The film focuses less on the afflicted and more on the steps taken when such a threat arises, following, for the most part, an international team of doctors from the Center for Disease Control as they attempt to understand and contain the disease before it snuffs out all of humanity.
What makes “Contagion” so effective, however, is that instead of being riddled with too many scenes of too many dying people, we are able to glimpse the utter pandemonium that ensues when the disease reaches pandemic level. There is widespread panic, riots, robberies and a general sense of helplessness and paranoia well portrayed by the cast, especially Damon as he struggles to protect his daughter from being exposed to the disease.
In short, “Contagion” intends to scare, yes, but for reasons that may not be apparent right away. Viewers may find that watching an illness destroy life as we know it is nowhere near as frightening as watching what people are willing to do to each other in order to survive.