One of the most horrifying movies I have seen in quite some time, Contagion is a sobering and realistic look at the progression of a deadly viral outbreak and how it would be handled.

Jumping from several interconnected stories, Steven Soderberg puts together a fairly epic film that covers all the bases and manages not to sacrifice emotion for cold procedural accuracy. It all starts with a Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returning from a business trip to China/sex romp during a layover who has contracted a novel virus and shortly after she returns to her husband, Mitch (Matt Damon) and it kills the hell out of her but not before she spreads it to several other people including her own son. The virus proceeds to start killing a ton of people and the CDC and every other response agency possible springs to action to try to figure out where the virus came from, what it does and how to stop it. Dr Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne), who is running the show, dispatches a disease assessor Dr Erin Mears (Kate Winslett) to try to backtrace Beth’s movements and to try to set up quarantine. Meanwhile, a fringe internet reporter (Jude Law) predicts the outbreak and tries to use it to make money from pharmaceutical companies scrambling to be the first to have a vaccine to sell. Also all hell breaks loose. The stories all intertwine and the death toll rises as all parties try to keep their loved ones safe while trying to find someway to stop the spread of this deadly disease.

Contagion is a pretty big movie with a huge ensemble cast and it is the sort of film that would be easy to get away from a director who doesn’t know what they are doing. Luckily this is Soderberg and he knows a thing or two about juggling big casts of A-list actors. Soderberg manages to keep all the story threads going, with a plethora of characters, without ever feeling cold and emotionless. In fact, the tone is consistently one of dread with throughlines of sadness and horror. The movie doesn’t hold its characters as sacred and is not afraid to kill off any of them at any time. This keeps the audience off balance and increases the tension and suspense exponentially.

On a technical level, the movie looks great but the story is not told through flashy cuts and camera tricks. The reality here is stark and unflinching which helps maintain just how high the stakes are and how horrifying it can all be. Soderberg’s choice of filters makes scenes feel cold and harsh and that helps maintain the tone throughout. This approach demonstrates the Soderberg’s restraint which is what the material wants and further cements him as a director who knows his business. He could be flashy and use indulgent shots with sweeping moves and artsy angles but instead he lets the story play and shoots it in a matter of fact way that never distracts from the drama on screen. Soderberg has the confidence to not flex his artsy muscles when it wouldn’t fit and the film is much better for it. The shots and camera moves all serve the bleakness and fear  established and does so in a very effective way.

The writing could have gone off the rails pretty easily here too as there is a really high danger of melodrama or overdone dialogue and plot twists just designed for shock value. None of that happens here. While characters get the disease and die, none of it feels contrived or like a cheat. The movie respects the characters even as it disposes of them but does not linger much on sentimentality as there just isn’t time for that. When I say that I don’t mean that there isn’t time in the film for it but rather in the situation in which the characters find themselves. The sense of urgency here is so thick it could be cut with a knife and that keeps the tension high the whole way through.

Aside from the personal drama on display, I also thought the processes of dealing with this sort of threat and the sorts of confounds that present from a medical, political and legal standpoint were very interesting and are presented here in a clear way that is easy to digest for someone who is not familiar with any of these things. The movie also doesn’t pass judgment on anyone in particular in terms of the pitfalls and hardships inherent in this process but definitely highlights potential issues and attitudes that can stand in the way of fixing the issues. At the end of the film you are left with a lot to think about and a fairly strong desire to never touch anything ever again with bare hands.

The performances were excellent across the board which is not much of a surprise given the talent on hand. Even small parts are filled with people you will recognize. Matt Damon does an impressive job of managing grief and obsession without over doing it. His pain and grief seemed very genuine and I related to it in a very real way. Kate Winslet’s performance is gut wrenching and watching her struggle through her job tugs at the heart strings. Lauernce Fishburne delivers an earnest and conflicted performance that is right on the mark. Honestly I could spend another 3,000 words on the performances here because they are all so good and so effective.

Conclusion [9.0 out of 10]

Contagion is a lot of different things crammed into one film but it manages all those things so effectively that it never takes away from the whole very much. Some storylines and characters seem to get the short shrift because of so much going on but the story told is very compelling and manages to overcome this small issue. If you have a germ or disease phobia, you will want to stay far away from this movie. Anyone else who is a fan of intense suspense and drama will find a lot to love here.