From Contagion to The Flu, 12 great viral outbreak movies that do not involve a zombie apocalypse
- Here are a dozen of the best films about disease outbreaks, including 12 Monkeys, in which Bruce Willis goes back in time to trace the source of a deadly virus
- It is Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion that details how a corona-like virus could spread and the disaster it could cause
Viral outbreaks, like the current Covid-19 coronavirus, have long been a popular inspiration for science-fiction and disaster movies – and not only as an excuse to unleash yet another zombie apocalypse onto our screens.
From the scientists tasked with finding a cure, to the unwitting carriers responsible for spreading the sickness, a viral epidemic is not to be sneezed at, presenting a veritable hot zone for (sanitised) nail-biting and race-against-time heroics.
While some films imagine extreme situations of global annihilation, others present a far more realistic, even educational, representation of how a deadly virus can be spread, or how it might be prevented.
As the ongoing health scare keeps audiences away from cinemas, and major blockbusters like No Time to Die postpone their release dates, we have diagnosed a dozen of the best outbreak thrillers, from some of the world’s most accomplished filmmakers, that can be enjoyed from the self-quarantined safety of your own homes.
1. Panic in the Streets (1950)
Elia Kazan takes us through the docks and immigrant communities of post-war New Orleans, after a murder suspect infected with pneumonic plague goes on the run from Richard Wydmark’s health official.