Welp. Suffice to say, a month ago we did not expect to be doing this movie. Released in 2011, Steven Soderbergh’s all-star pandemic thriller Contagion has been on our radar for a little while, but recent events have obviously pushed it to the front of the queue.
When it first hit cinemas, the film’s unusually faithful adherence to medical and scientific reality played as a mild novelty. Nine years later, it’s given the film an unexpected second life.
Lest things start to sound a bit too gloomy, rest assured that as accurate as certain elements of Contagion are, it is still very much a popcorn movie, with all the silliness and howl-worthy dialogue that implies.
In many ways, it plays like a 21st century take on 70s disaster movies like The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, with an all-star cast trapped in a bottle by a common threat. The difference being that the bottle is ‘earth’ and the common threat is a deadly virus.
Tune into this week’s episode – our last recording before we went on enforced self-isolation – to hear our thoughts on Matt Damon’s dad energy, the jarringly contrived Marion Cotillard plot, the spectacle of dead Gwyneth Paltrow and more, plus drinking games, listener submissions, and some sequel ideas that definitely aren’t just expressions of real life in 2020.
Through the magic of remote recording, we’ll be sticking around throughout this period of uncertainty, so please stay with us. If it’s your first time, you can hit subscribe to receive a new episode every Friday morning. A review on your preferred podcasting app is also much appreciated.
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Next week, we’ll be continuing the theme of Pandemic movies with a slice of Grade-A 90s schlock from the director of Air Force One. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy and wash your damn hands!