History Film / Contagion2011

* YourCheatingHeart: Beth Emhoff, who cheated on her husband with a former lover who lived in Chicago, unwittingly spreads the virus to the Midwest.

** Given what's going on with COVID-19, however, the scenario depicted appears far more realistic than what was thought when the movie first came out; even if COVID-19 is far less lethal than MEV-1, the level of response is pretty close to the same, as is the scale of the science attempting to find a cure, and the speed with which it is ultimately developed. Coincidentally, MEV-1 appears to be either an influenza or coronavirus strain.

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Everything involved in trying to figure MEV-1 out, which realistically would take years while the pandemic would burn through its initial waves broadly as depicted. In other words, no prospect of a vaccine to mitigate casualties. The HollywoodScience is so selective here in order to give the health officials a fighting chance rather than making the movie solely about a disastrous pandemic. Given what's going on with COVID-19, however, the scenario depicted appears far more realistic than what was thought when the movie first came out (even if COVID-19 is far less lethal than MEV-1, the level of response is pretty close to the same, as is the scale of the science attempting to find a cure). Coincidentally, MEV-1 appears to be either an influenza or coronavirus strain.

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Everything involved in trying to figure MEV-1 out, which realistically would take years while the pandemic would burn through its initial waves broadly as depicted. In other words, no prospect of a vaccine to mitigate casualties. The HollywoodScience is so selective here in order to give the health officials a fighting chance rather than making the movie solely about a disastrous pandemic.

* ScienceHero: {{Reconstructed}}. The medical/scientific community works hard at containing and stopping the virus, and aside from some ArtisticLicense, is generally portrayed the way real doctors and scientists would operate in this kind of situation.

* TheReveal: In the last scene, we find out the origins of the virus how Beth contracted it.

* TheReveal: In the last scene, we find out how Beth contracted the virus.

* ApocalypseHow: A Class 1. Hundreds of millions of people have died by the end, but [[spoiler:the pandemic is eventually contained, the world recovers, and life goes on as if this never happened]].

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: Lorraine's baby, given that her pregnancy ''might'' have been far along for an emergency c-section before she died and placenta fluid often protects unborn children from their mothers ailments]].

* BlackAndWhiteInsanity: Krumwiede seems to consider himself to be an IntrepidReporter and firmly believes all of the professionals doing their best to help are actually trying to keep the virus going for their own ends, and encourages others to take this viewpoint. Subverted later on, [[spoiler:where he reveals that he doesn’t believe any of this and just wants to make money off of people. Even then, he continues to justify this to himself, claiming that since other people have made money this way throughout history,mit’s okay for him to do it, too.]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Beth as Patient Zero.

* HeroicBSOD: [[spoiler:Mitch at the end breaks down into tears while looking at photos of his dead wife.]]
* HilaritySues: [[spoiler:It is implied that Krumwiede is going to be subject to a lot of lawsuits after people realize he lied about forsynthia to make a profit.]]

* PetTheDog: The one time Krumwielde isn't an abrasive jerk is when he's confronted by a deathly ill Lorraine, whom he sincerely urges to go home. He also notably tries to wave off her please for forsythia [[spoiler:rather than easily make a quick buck off her by giving her a fake cure.]]

* BittersweetEnding: Mitch, his daughter Jordan, and Andrew, the boy she liked, manage to survive, but Beth was Patient Zero, and her son, Dr. Mears, and a lot of other people paid for it[[note]] Cheevers says one in twelve people will be infected, and the virus is stated to have a mortality rate of 25-30%. That works out to be between 156 and 187 ''million'' people dead.[[/note]]. Krumwiede may or may not get punished for his role in the deaths of potentially thousands of people.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: [[spoiler:Sussman goes against orders to destroy his research samples in order to successfully culture the virus in a lab... a vital first step to getting a vaccine. Hextall later injects herself with an untested but viable vaccine sample, since the proper procedure would have taken many times longer to get results. It works, ultimately stopping the pandemic.]] Doubles as a case of ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules since it's speculated by Hextall that Sussman have gone into business himself with the discovery and made a fortune, and was probably approached about it.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: [[spoiler:Sussman goes against orders to destroy his research samples in order to successfully culture the virus in a lab... a vital first step to getting a vaccine. Hextall later injects herself with an untested but viable vaccine sample, since the proper procedure would have taken many times longer to get results. It works, ultimately stopping the pandemic.]]

** Krumwiede, despite being a online scam artist selling a bogus cure to the disease, does accurately point out that [[spoiler: Dr. Ellis Cheever has abused his power to get his loved ones out of danger.]]

* OverprotectiveDad: Mitch Emhoff is a mild version, keeping his daughter from meeting the boy she likes even though neither of them are sick (played with, as this is likely as much to protect ''him'' as her - her mother was patient zero, after all). Even though there's a chance she's immune as he is, he's not going to take it. [[spoiler:When the boy is vaccinated, he immediately makes up for it by setting up a personal prom night just for them.]]

The responsibility of identifying and treating the outbreak falls to the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control, with scientists around the globe researching the virus, including Dr. Ellis Cheever (Fishburne), Dr. Erin Mears (Winslet) and Dr. Leonora Orantes (Cotillard). Meanwhile, in San Francisco, a conspiracy blogger named Alan Krumwiede (Law) searches for answers, while a fellow doctor named Sussman (Elliot Gould) tries to identify the virus.

** [[spoiler: When first showing the female reporter the video of the man dying of the virus on the bus, Krumwiede says "Print media is dying. I'll save you a spot on the bus." Said reporter later dies of the virus, in no small part due to Krumwiede lying about Forsythia being a cure, as she gets infected at a clinic handing out Forsythia.]]

** Krumwiede despite being a online scam artist selling a bogus cure to the disease does accurately point out that [[spoiler: Dr. Ellis Cheever has abused his power to get his loved ones out of danger.]]
** The Teenage burglars attempting to raid Dr. Cheever's home for an early vaccine do correctly assume he would be at the front of the line for said vaccine (they were a single day too early)

* DueToTheDead: Subverted; despite Mitch and Beth's mother wanting a proper burial, the local funeral home refuses to bury Beth on the basis that they may get infected with the virus as well.

** [[spoiler: Because a chef didn't wash his hands after handling an infected pig, he spread it to Beth Emhoff and others, and they then spread it to more, resulting in millions of deaths]].

* ProperlyParanoid: At one point a Minnesota health official complains to Dr. Mears that his wife is forcing him to use the garage like an airlock, changing clothing before coming inside. She has to be overreacting, right? Mears' response: No.

* SoundtrackDissonance: "Merry Christmas", the theme that plays when [[spoiler:Mears dies and her body is placed in a mass grave]] while the other CDC technician discusses ordering more body bags from Canada, is oddly uplifting.
** It becomes more appropriate the next time it plays, when [[spoiler:Dr. Hextall finds a vaccinated rhesus monkey that survived, injects herself with the vaccine, and goes to her father's isolation ward for a successful test]].