Contagion (2011)

directed by: Steven Soderbergh
written by: Scott Z. Burns
photographed by: Steven Soderbergh
music by: Cliff Martinez
edited by: Stephen Mirrione
stars: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law
imdb

Contagion has become the movie of the pandemic. Nine years after it was made, suddenly it has become a pretty good prophecy of the horrors to come, although the virus in Contagion is much more deadly than the Covid-19, and doesn't care about age. Leaving that aside, the movie predicts with surprising accuracy some of the things we are seeing now, especially the lockdowns.

From the cinematographic point of view, Contagion is not a memorable movie, yet, being directed by Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Traffic) the quality is assured. It keeps you hooked for the more than two hours it lasts. The cinematography, music and editing are just perfect.

As in almost every multiple character movies (the cast also includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard and Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, amond others), with the story jumping from one character to another, the screenplay fails to really grip the viewer emotionally, and probably the fact that it begins straight with a dramatic shock (let's just say somebody unexpected dies) doesn't help. On the other hand, the movie uses very skillfully the origin of the virus as a MacGuffin, while we follow the vicissitudes of the characters.

From here after, may be considered as SPOILERS:
Some of the events in Contagion seem really prophetic: empty shops, doctors dying while they fight the pandemic, fake news regarding the virus and it's cure, the search for a vaccine... And the importance of R0: