How makers of 2011 film Contagion foresaw Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, and gave the film lasting resonance
- Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow were the film’s stars in 2011, but its theme of a novel virus sweeping the globe has seen the movie go viral today
- The film’s scriptwriter conducted months of in-depth research into the science of pandemics and hired epidemiologists to develop a realistic plot
There’s a moment early in the movie Contagion when health officials lay out what’s known about the film’s villain, a novel virus that is sweeping the globe and leaving dead bodies in its path.
For many watching in 2020, the scene hits a little too close to home.
In front of a whiteboard in a drab government office, a health investigator with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), played by Kate Winslet, reviews the basics. The virus appears to spread through coughing and sneezing. The particles released can also land on surfaces such as doorknobs and lift buttons, which then spread the virus when people touch their faces, she says.
To stop the spread of the pathogen, Winslet explains, officials need to determine its contagiousness, whether people without symptoms can infect others and who exactly is susceptible. “So far that appears to be everyone with hands, a mouth and a nose,” quips a local health official.