MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Up 8 this week

Contagion (2011)

6.7
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.7/10 from 123,932 users   Metascore: 70/100
Reviews: 374 user | 405 critic | 38 from Metacritic.com

A thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak.

Director:

Writer:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 2369 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 80 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 577 titles created 18 Jul 2011
 
a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 455 titles created 3 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Contagion (2011)

Contagion (2011) on IMDb 6.7/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Contagion.
2 wins & 6 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Action | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A robotic assassin from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to eliminate a waitress, whose son will grow up and lead humanity in a war against machines.

Director: James Cameron
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Dr. Bruce Banner, thanks to a gamma ray experiment gone wrong, transforms into a giant green-skinned hulk whenever his pulse rate gets too high. Meanwhile, a soldier uses the same technology to become an evil version of the original.

Director: Louis Leterrier
Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth
Action | Fantasy | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2/10 X  

A shadowy freedom fighter known only as "V" uses terrorist tactics to fight against his totalitarian society. Upon rescuing a girl from the secret police, he also finds his best chance at having an ally.

Director: James McTeigue
Stars: Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea
The Island (2005)
Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

A man goes on the run after he discovers that he is actually a "harvestable being", and is being kept as a source of replacement parts, along with others, in a Utopian facility.

Director: Michael Bay
Stars: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou
X2 (2003)
Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

The X-Men band together to find a mutant assassin who has made an attempt on the President's life, while the Mutant Academy is attacked by military forces.

Director: Bryan Singer
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen
Surrogates (2009)
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates.

Director: Jonathan Mostow
Stars: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike
Deja Vu (2006)
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

An ATF agent travels back in time to save a woman from being murdered, falling in love with her during the process.

Director: Tony Scott
Stars: Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, Val Kilmer
Pitch Black (2000)
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A group of marooned space travelers struggle for survival on a seemingly lifeless sun-scorched world.

Director: David Twohy
Stars: Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.6/10 X  

The cyborg who once tried to kill Sarah Connor is dead, and another T-101 must now protect her teenage son, John Connor, from an even more powerful and advanced Terminator, the T-1000.

Director: James Cameron
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong
Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

When a cure is found to treat mutations, lines are drawn amongst the X-Men, led by Professor Charles Xavier, and the Brotherhood, a band of powerful mutants organized under Xavier's former ally, Magneto.

Director: Brett Ratner
Stars: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart
Aliens (1986)
Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.5/10 X  

The planet from Alien has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower, but will it be enough?

Director: James Cameron
Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn
Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

An robotic warrior from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a 20-year old drifter and his future wife from an most advanced robotic assassin and to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack.

Director: Jonathan Mostow
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
RADM Lyle Haggerty
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Edit

Storyline

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. Written by garykmcd

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Nothing spreads like fear See more »

Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for disturbing content and some language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Language:

| |

Release Date:

9 September 2011 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Contagion: The IMAX Experience  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$22,403,596 (USA) (9 September 2011)

Gross:

$75,638,743 (USA) (9 December 2011)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Consultant Dr. Ian Lipkin - professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health - said the virus in the film is one he created based on some traits of the Nipah virus from Malaysia in the late 1990s which spread from pigs to farmers. See more »

Goofs

During the preliminary press conference at the CDC, Boston is listed as one of the first infected cities. Later on, a map is shown of infected regions around the world. It indicates that the only regions of Massachusetts infected are those regions west of the Connecticut River. Boston is approximately 100 miles east of the Connecticut River. See more »

Quotes

Alan Krumwiede: It's Godzilla, King Kong and Frankenstein all in one.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The colors of the Warner Bros. Pictues logo are slightly faded. See more »

Connections

References Rock Band (2007) See more »

Soundtracks

"All I Want is You"
Lyrics by Bono
Music by U2
Performed by U2
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Very unique take on the viral outbreak subgenre
10 September 2011 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

One would think that the last thing we need is another outbreak movie. But that's not the case when the latest of the genre is directed by the always interesting Steven Soderbergh. Contagion wins for this years most ridiculously impressive cast lineup, as it is an ensemble picture about a deadly viral outbreak that affects the entire world. We follow various characters like a man who loses his wife and step son to the disease. We follow various doctors who work to stop the virus, along with CDC officials who must control the spread and influence of the virus. The whole film is a tightly woven dramatic thriller that presents a lot of characters and a lot of ideas, but keeps them all in line and pulls its story off very well.

It's not always easy to keep an ensemble cast straight, especially when the main plot of the film is run by subplots from the various characters and their stories that continue throughout the film. The stories weave in and out of each other at times, but often they are all separate, just lead by the same main plot of a viral outbreak affecting the entire population of the world. Thankfully, Contagion interweaves its characters and story lines at just the right intervals, forming a very structured and well crafted end result. There are essentially four main stories that intertwine. There's the father character's story, the CDC, the scientists trying to stop the disease, and a blogger who claims to already have a cure for the disease. These four stories get basically equal screen time and all serve a purpose towards thickening the film's plot. The way they work together and separate is impressive and makes for a very strong overall narrative.

Soderbergh takes a very minimalist approach to Contagion, steering clear of anything flashy or exaggerated and avoiding over-dramatic relationships and big budget set pieces. This makes Contagion a very unique experience and something much different from your typical viral outbreak flick. It does lag in spots as the film attempts to stretch out certain things without doing anything flashy. The film takes a very low key and eerily monotone approach to its storytelling. It seems to choose the simplest solution to things which in turn makes it a more fascinating and much more realistic feeling than something glitzy and spastic. I certainly feel that Contagion paints the best picture of what would actually happen should a serious outbreak like this occur. This, of course, makes it all the more frightening.

Contagion is certainly a film worth seeing. It takes a much different approach to a genre we thought we were so familiar with. Soderbergh's poignant direction and Scott Z. Burns' sharp script give this film a great atmosphere, and the incredible cast lineup makes it all the better. It is undeniably slow at points, but when you put in the context of a film of this quality it doesn't matter nearly as much. This is a great way to kick off the fall season for film.


78 of 109 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
The End Scene grahamchris
touch your face 2000-3000 times per day? CorncobOBranflake
Unnecessary parts of film: Beth's affair, Jude Law's Aussie accent sandmets22
despicable message, what we're supposed to understand nell-nell
can any one explain ??? shishirsharma
Most unthrilling film i have ever watched. cabaloflollards
Discuss Contagion (2011) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?