By Casey Combs |Staff writerIn the last week, most Americans have seen a complete upheaval of normality due to the outbreak of COVID-19, or novel coronavirus.The government’s recommendations to self-quarantine have led to social event cancellations, closures of schools and offices and product shortages at grocery stores.While some may have thought a world-wide pandemic impossible, Hollywood has been predicting this exact scenario for years. Whether to give into fear with a realistic portrayal or escape into fantasy with a science-fiction thriller, here are the best pandemic-themed movies to watch while quarantined:
- Contagion (2011)
After returning home from a business trip in Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) dies from a mysterious illness. As her husband (Matt Damon) deals with the aftermath of losing his wife, others start experiencing the same symptoms as Beth. What follows is a global pandemic that creates a world where the illness spreads fast, but paranoia spreads faster.2. Outbreak (1995)When an African monkey carrying a dangerous virus is brought to a California town, a lethal outbreak occurs. A team of doctors led by a contagious disease expert (Dustin Hoffman) soon intervenes in an attempt to save the town and prevent a global pandemic.3. World War Z (2013)This film follows a former United Nations investigator (Brad Pitt) as he leads the search to find the source of a deadly infection. The disease makes people vicious and feral, and is spread through a single bite.4. I Am Legend (2007)Scientist Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a survivor of a plague that mutated the human race into bloodthirsty monsters. Using his own immune blood, he works on finding a cure in his New York City lab, all while on the run from the mutants hunting him down.5. The Andromeda Strain (1971)Set in a small Arizona town, a satellite crash brings a deadly alien virus that spreads through the townspeople. In an effort to eliminate the virus, top scientists assemble in the city to identify the alien organism that caused the outbreak and prevent it from spreading.6. 28 Days Later (2003)In this British film, a caged chimp infected with a “rage” virus is freed from a research lab. Twenty-eight days later, a London bike courier (Cillian Murphy) wakes from a coma to find his city deserted. He joins a group of survivors to escape to safety from victims of “the rage”.7. 12 Monkeys (1995)In this wild science-fiction classic, a prisoner (Bruce Willis) in the 2030s is sent back in time to the 1990s to gather information on a plague that will soon eliminate most of the human race. He finds it almost impossible to learn about the disease due to a group of medical gatekeepers.8. The Happening (2008)When a strange plague begins to spread across the country, causing victims to commit suicide, a science teacher and his wife (Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel) try to escape with their family in the Pennsylvania farmland.9. Blindness (2008)After a man (Mark Ruffalo) is struck blind while driving home, a pandemic of blindness begins spreading. As the contagion spreads and society falls, victims are quarantined within an abandoned mental asylum. One woman (Julianne Moore) who seems immune to the disease pretends to be blind in order to stay with her husband, but soon learns that she may be society’s only hope.10. Pandemic (2016)Set in a Los Angeles safe zone, a CDC lab technician is recruited to rescue survivors of a deadly virus. Along the way, she learns about the infected and the danger that ensues after “stage 5”. Contact Casey Combs at CACOMBS@augusta.edu