Viral (2016)

Following the outbreak of a virus that wipes out the majority of the human population, a young woman documents her family's new life in quarantine and tries to protect her infected sister.

Directors:

Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

Writers:

Barbara Marshall, Christopher Landon

Stars:

Sofia Black-D'Elia, Analeigh Tipton, Travis Tope

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sofia Black-D'Elia	...	Emma Drakeford
Analeigh Tipton	...	Stacey Drakeford
Travis Tope	...	Evan Klein
Michael Kelly	...	Michael Drakeford
Machine Gun Kelly	...	CJ (as Colson Baker)
John Cothran	...	Mr. Toomey
Stoney Westmoreland	...	Bill
Linzie Gray	...	Gracie Lemay
Judyann Elder	...	Mrs. Toomey
Philip Labes	...	Gangly Kid
Brianne Howey	...	Tara Dannelly
Alexa Fischer	...	CDC Investigator
Brendon Eggertsen	...	Party Jock
Jennifer Say Gan	...	CDC Agent
Matt Knudsen	...	CDC Agent

Storyline

Emma and her sister Stacey are normal teenagers in a small town, when a mysterious infection begins to spread. With the town quarantined, and their parents stuck on the other side of the barrier, the girls have a blast eating junk food and sneaking out to go to parties. But when the disease starts to infect people they know, the girls, together with their neighbor Evan (Emma's secret crush), barricade themselves into their home. But it may already be too late, as the infection is already in their midst, and Emma will be faced with a choice: protect her sister or survive the virus.

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Plot Keywords:

virus | teenager | disease | gas mask | violence | 

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Taglines:

Fear what's inside

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, some language including sexual references, and teen partying

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 July 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Peste

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blumhouse Productions,Busted Shark Productions,Chapter One Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In May of 2015, the movie was announced to be released in theaters in February 2016, but was later dropped from the schedule. It was released on video on demand (VOD) July 29, 2016.

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Goofs

When Emma gets a text message from Stacey on the first day of the story, the date on her phone says Thursday, October 2. When Emma gets a text message from Evan on the night of the following day, her phone display still reads Thursday, October 2 even though story-wise it should be Friday, October 3.

User Reviews

Great characters - but deeply lacking as an "outbreak" movie.

A virus breaks out causing the infected to lose their faculties and attack the healthy. In a small American town two sisters try to survive on their own when their parents are locked outside the quarantine zone.

This film starts off really well. The two female leads are excellent, with strong engrossing characters. Watching them live their ordinary lives is great viewing. The relationship between the two sisters, one who is sexually active and the other not, is played out with great skill. As things start to head south they deal with the situation as best they can.

This is where my praise for the movie ends. You can actually hit the pause button and see the exact second where some company executive taps the director on the shoulder and says "hey, bud, you remember this is a Sci-fi right?"

The director and writers obviously weren't up for this. I think they probably asked the guy from the local comic book store for advice. As all the hard work and investment in the characters is thrown away to stick some ridiculous tentacles in - then try and pass it off with some very flaky biology.

I am a big fan of sci-fi, especially post apocalyptic stories. This fails to deliver on both accounts. Despite my tastes I would rather this had panned out as a coming of age movie.

Watch it for the characters, then turn it off to avoid the laughable appearance of the actual virus.