Cast: Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet
Directed by: Stephen Soderbergh
Written by: Scott Z. Burns
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller

In a world where the media uses fear as fuel for ratings, where new diseases lurk around every corner, where the accessibility of information has created a paranoid society… oh wait… that’s this world! In Contagion, an outbreak of a new virus has been discovered after the death of an American business woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns home from Hong Kong. The virus piques the interest of the Center of Disease Control, who deploy numerous employees (Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet) to determine its spreadability; a search for the truth leads journalists (Jude Law) to investigate potential cures; medical scientists (Jennifer Ehle) strive to find antidotes; and ordinary civilians (Matt Damon) fight to survive a violent turn in society.

This film calls to mind the loud thunk of the Mythbusters’ “Plausible” sign. Director Steven Soderbergh makes a clear point very early into the film that if a disease that can be transmitted via touch ever does present itself… we’re all screwed.

“A person touches their face three to five times every waking minute,” Kate Winslet’s character states at one point during the film; in between we touch other things, as Soderbergh demonstrates, like these fancy touch screens, and door handles, and each other. His choice of shots highlight our daily interaction with objects we don’t even acknowledge – a linger on a closing door; an insert shot of a waitress punching her order into a computer – to set up a total sense of paranoia. However, as the film wears on, we become a bit desensitized. With each subsequent step away from our actual reality toward what could be, the film’s point seems to become diluted and obscured. What should be chilling ends up being nothing more than a morbid curiosity, or, at best, an intelligent deliberation of a possible future.

This is most likely due to the fact that there is no central character to empathize with. This is a large cast packed with the most talented actors in the business – and they all turn in stupendous performances – however we’re never given the fulfillment of a complete emotional arc of any character. Instead we’re given ruminations about government conspiracy, public paranoia, and unsung heroes. This commentary falls on deaf ears when we cannot experience it on a personal level.

Contagion ends up being a very well made film, but fails to make the decision whether or not to engage the audience intellectually or emotionally and suffers because of it. What starts out to be potentially deadly loses its potency in the final moments.

USA. 106 minutes. Rated PG-13.

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