Contagion (2011) ****

Steven Soderbergh's pandemic movie from 2011 may be way too on-the-nose for our current situation, but everyone seems to be streaming it, so I decided to join the herd.

When a mysterious, new respiratory virus spreads across the globe, an ensemble cast works to decode the virus, contain its spread with social distancing and quarantines, and develop a vaccine. Meanwhile, civil disorder takes hold, as the economy crashes, people get hungry, and looters loot.

Soderbergh does a pretty good job here mixing the macro and the micro. As scientists across the globe collaborate to develop a vaccine, we also get invested in individual stories, like Matt Damon's widowed dad, trying to keep himself and his daughter safe in a quarantine zone. Excellent performances also come from Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jennifer Ehle, and Marion Cotillard, to name a few. Laurence Fishburne plays the same Laurence Fishburne character he plays in every movie. (The guy has a deep voice and an interesting face, but his acting range is more like an acting hot-plate.)

The best thing about “Contagion” is how much it gets the science right. The movie dives deep into epidemiology, public health, and virology. Kate Winslet's character explains the concept of R0 (the average number of people that a person with a given disease will spread it to.) Ehle's character explains the difference between vaccine types and the difficulty of growing viruses in cell cultures. In the future, according to Star Trek, a single general practitioner like Dr. McCoy will be able to whip up a vaccine over a dramatic few days. Here in the Dark Ages, we still have to do it over months, with lots of failed attempts and dead monkeys. “Contagion” shows all that, putting it up there with real-science movies like "The Martian" and "Moon." The film not only promotes science, it also confronts anti-science. Jude Law plays a blogger who enriches himself by promoting a homeopathic cure and criticizing vaccines. There's a great scene where a TV news show interviewing a leading scientist cuts away to give equal time to Law's character, who isn't a scientist or even a serious journalist.

All of which is to say that watching “Contagion” is just like watching real life right now, but with better-looking people. You might think that all that scientific explanation, and the lack of car chases or a romance, make this a dry, difficult film to watch. You couldn't be more wrong. Steven Soderbergh has created here a truly gripping story that will have you on the edge of your seat. If you have exhausted all your escapist entertainment options and are ready to truly embrace this pandemic, then check it out. But wash your hands first!

4 stars out of 5