Five to Watch - Movies About Pandemics

With a global pandemic going on right now, I’m kind of surprised that I haven’t thought of this before. There are a ton of movies about pandemics and now is the time to list of few of them. The ones that you might not have heard about, are overlooked or underrated. Here are five movies about pandemics.

Contagion (2011)
After a business trip to Hong Kong, Beth from Minneapolis doesn’t feel well. Her flu turns out to be a virus infection, which is very contagious and very deadly. While the number of victims is rising rapidly, scientists from the Center of Disease Control and the World Health Organization are trying to get a grip on the disease. Meanwhile, a blogger sends all kinds of conspiracy theories out into the world, and massive panic breaks out. A pretty realistic thriller by David Soderbergh.

World War Z (2013)
When a global virus breaks out that turns people into rabid zombies, former UN employee Gerry Lane has to leave his family behind to bring salvation. The mix of small human drama and pandemic panic gives the film an impressive grandeur, which is enhanced by beautiful spectacle.

Outbreak (1995)
Military virus specialist Sam discovers an unprecedented deadly virus in two places in the US. He wants to take measures to prevent an epidemic, but for mysterious reasons is being thwarted by superiors. Director Wolfgang Petersen executed this well. It’s an exciting film, with the help of a great cast with amongst them Dustin Hoffman, Renee Russo, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey.

It Comes at Night (2017)
In a post-apocalyptic world, in which exposure to a virus leads to a horrific death, a family lives. Father, mother and teenage son live deep in the forest, in an almost completely plastic-covered country house. As always, the threat comes from the outside, but director Trey Edward Shult focuses more on te psychological effects that continuous living with that threat has on the family.

28 Days Later (2002)
A successful zombie film by Danny Boyle. After Jim wakes up from a coma in an empty hospital, London has changed: he finds only deserted neighborhoods and empty streets, with traces of a sudden flight of the population here and there. 28 days earlier, militant animal protectors have allowed a monkey infected with germs to escape from a laboratory, thus declaring a plague over England. Grainy images of empty street made with digital cameras reinforce the feeling of unease in this for the genre very intelligent film.