Wish the similarities of this 2011 movie plot to the Covid-19 real-life horror were in toto; wish we had a wonder doc like the film's CDC scientist Ally Hextall who bravely turns guinea pig to test a live strain and develops a miracle vaccine that moves into mass production in record time. We wouldn't have had any quarrel with this bit of fantasy in an otherwise authentic film that adequately respects science unlike most outlandish Hollywood productions of this genre.
The film features Kate Winslet and Matt Damon in pleasantly unusual support roles that strike immediate resonance. Winslet looks every inch an epidemiologist while Damon plays the everyday man with aplomb. Wish we had his invincible immunity in our arsenal; it could have worked wonders in the slum pockets of Dharavi in particular.
Sadly, the reigning Covid-19 havoc denies the viewer the luxury of applauding the sincere effort of the writer-director duo Scott Burns and Steven Soderbergh which almost reads like the tragic tale of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An infected bat, fleeing a palm tree forest marked for destruction, accidentally drops a banana. A pig devours it before embarking on its final journey to the slaughter-house. A zoonotic spillover ensues when an unsuspecting casino chef works on the animal in his kitchen before shaking hands with a lady guest, who then becomes the ill-fated 'index patient'. The virus spreads thick and fast, courtesy scores of 'handshaking' carries and 'friendly' surfaces worldwide. When infections touch alarming levels, quarantines follow. Authorities across the globe struggle to find a way out amid mayhem, riots, fake news, and false curative claims.
The film features Kate Winslet and Matt Damon in pleasantly unusual support roles that strike immediate resonance. Winslet looks every inch an epidemiologist while Damon plays the everyday man with aplomb. Wish we had his invincible immunity in our arsenal; it could have worked wonders in the slum pockets of Dharavi in particular.
Sadly, the reigning Covid-19 havoc denies the viewer the luxury of applauding the sincere effort of the writer-director duo Scott Burns and Steven Soderbergh which almost reads like the tragic tale of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An infected bat, fleeing a palm tree forest marked for destruction, accidentally drops a banana. A pig devours it before embarking on its final journey to the slaughter-house. A zoonotic spillover ensues when an unsuspecting casino chef works on the animal in his kitchen before shaking hands with a lady guest, who then becomes the ill-fated 'index patient'. The virus spreads thick and fast, courtesy scores of 'handshaking' carries and 'friendly' surfaces worldwide. When infections touch alarming levels, quarantines follow. Authorities across the globe struggle to find a way out amid mayhem, riots, fake news, and false curative claims.
The Reproductive number (R naught) and mortality rate of the film's virus are higher than that of Covid-19. We could draw some solace on this front! Hope all the theory of recombinant DNA techniques and primate adenovirus vectors, long list of potential drugs, antibodies and plasma therapies and the like bear fruit very soon. For the moment, we pray that the epidemiologist Ian Lipkin, the film's medical consultant who happened to test Covid positive, is on his way to recovery.
