Contagion (2011)
77%RT Audience Score: 63%
Awards & Nominations: 2 wins & 14 nominations
Tense, tightly plotted, and bolstered by a stellar cast, Contagion is an exceptionally smart — and scary — disaster movie
Contagion is like a horror movie for germaphobes. It’s got all the suspense and terror of a slasher flick, but instead of a masked killer, it’s a microscopic virus that’s out to get you. And just like in a horror movie, you’ll be yelling at the screen, “Don’t touch that! Don’t go there!” But unlike a horror movie, you’ll be washing your hands and sanitizing everything in sight for days after watching it. So, if you’re looking for a good scare and a reason to stock up on hand sanitizer, give Contagion a watch.
Production Company(ies)
Sony Pictures, Classics Radical Media, Sen Art Films,
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
Casablanca, Morocco
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for disturbing content and some language
Year of Release
2011
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 46m
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Language(s):English, Mandarin, Cantonese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 9, 2011 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 3, 2012
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Contagion, drama, disaster movie, PG-13, Steven Soderbergh, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Gregory Jacobs, Scott Z Burns, Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, box office, $75.6M, Warner Bros Pictures, SDDS, Dolby Digital, pandemic, virus, outbreak, global, blogger, paranoia, Minnesota, Hong Kong, jet lag, malaise, death, symptoms, doctors, microbe, society, collapse, tension, plot, stellar cast, smart, scary, critic reviews, audience score, Tomatometer, Fresh Kernels
Worldwide gross: $136,515,867
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $179,722,849
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 756
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 19,599,002
US/Canada gross: $75,658,097
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $99,603,724
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 756
US/Canada opening weekend: $22,403,596
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $29,494,287
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 472
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $60,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $78,989,872
Production budget ranking: 533
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $42,536,046
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $58,196,930
ROI to date (est.): 48%
ROI ranking: 1,160
Matt Damon – Mitch Emhoff
Laurence Fishburne – Dr. Ellis Cheever
Jude Law – Alan Krumwiede
Gwyneth Paltrow – Beth Emhoff
Kate Winslet – Dr. Erin Mears
Director(s)
Steven Soderbergh
Writer(s)
Scott Z. Burns
Producer(s)
Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher, Gregory Jacobs
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
2 wins & 14 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (280) | Top Critics (74) | Fresh (238) | Rotten (42)
A bit of a mixed bag at times, its overall well developed character sketches and good performances will certainly keep the attention of moviegoers and no doubt increase DVD sales (as well as, perhaps, sales of Purell).
September 8, 2017 | Rating: B+
Candice Frederick
Reel Talk Online
TOP CRITIC
No, Soderbergh and Burns are more interested in tackling this scenario from an almost unbearably direct and unambiguously straightforward journalistic perspective.
January 27, 2012 | Rating: 3/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
As disaster celeb-loaded disaster movies go, it could have been a lot worse.
January 9, 2012
Monica Castillo
Dig Boston
TOP CRITIC
The all-star disaster-movie genre is taken out of the 1970s and given a stylish and largely persuasive 21st century makeover by director and cinematographer Steven Soderbergh.
October 20, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
It’s terrific. I was really impressed with this film and I think it’s one of the best things he’s done actually.
October 20, 2011 | Rating: 4.5/5
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
Think of Wolfgang Petersen’s magnificently entertaining 1995 virus-on-the-rampage adventure Outbreak, take out the drama, excitement and involving characters, and that’s Contagion in a nutshell.
October 20, 2011 | Rating: 1/5
Jim Schembri
The Age (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
Scott Z. Burns’ tight screenplay smartly eschews the trappings of a typical Hollywood thriller in favor of methodical, realistic scenes and science-based dialogue.
July 5, 2022 | Rating: 7/10
Cody Dericks
Next Best Picture
Saw this like 3 days after the lockdown started for COVID-19. It’s scary how accurate it was. Soderbergh does a good job building the different sides of the problem and how a pandemic affects everything. [Full review in Spanish]
June 23, 2022 | Rating: 8/10
Victor Pineyro
Seventh Art Studio
Contagion is a hypochondriac’s nightmare. Contagion is also one of the better disaster films in recent memory.
February 11, 2022
Cory Woodroof
Lumination Network
Contagion is a vital, scientifically sure-footed, hot- button thriller that will have you avoiding public surfaces and reaching for antibacterial hand gel for months.
September 17, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
James Croot
Stuff.co.nz
Contagion pretty much gave me a full-on panic attack
July 6, 2021
Jason Adams
My New Plaid Pants
Contagion is stacked to the rafters with recognizable faces. Any film that can kill off Gwyneth Paltrow inside 15 minutes is not particularly short on star power.
March 19, 2021
Cate Young
Thirty, Flirty + Film…
Plot
Soon after her return from a business trip to Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff dies from what is a flu or some other type of infection. Her young son dies later the same day. Her husband Mitch however seems immune. Thus begins the spread of a deadly infection. For doctors and administrators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, several days pass before anyone realizes the extent or gravity of this new infection. They must first identify the type of virus in question and then find a means of combating it, a process that will likely take several months. As the contagion spreads to millions of people worldwide, societal order begins to break down as people panic.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels does not provide any tidbit about the cast of Contagion in this particular section.
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