(Image source: Warner Bros)

BY GARY COTTON

Warner Bros’ Contagion hit theatres this weekend-- and it already has a lot of people thinking. A Fox analyst breaks down the new thriller...

“Contagion is a pandemic thriller that follows a deadly airborne virus called Mev 1, as it spreads around the world and creates massive panic. This international team of doctors races against the clock to develop a vaccine and control the chaos.”

On top of getting the usual breakdown from film critics, Contagion also has scientists and health officials asking--what would we do in a similar situation? (CNN)

REAR ADMIRAL ANNE SCHUCHAT, U.S. NAVY: “This is a movie not a documentary, but infectious diseases have a way of being stranger than fiction sometimes and CDC and our partners are working 24/7 to prevent the kind of thing that you see in that movie from happening. (FLASH) The idea of a virus coming from animals to people happens, we’ve seen that with SARS we’ve seen that with the Avian flu problem and so it’s actually realistic in terms of the biology of what viruses are capable of doing.”

According to a writer for The Huffington Post, it’s that believability that makes Contagion so scary.

“We have an innate fear of illness... you can't fight a virus like it's a psychopath with an ax... They're invisible and could be carried by anyone...”

A writer for the LA Times agrees, but adds-- our interest in disease thrillers could have a deeper meaning. A film expert says...

“When people are really fearful about the future these kinds of films tend to come to the fore and speak to people's fears...whether they're necessarily worried about germs and things like that is beside the point--what they're more worried about is what does the future look like, and right now there's good reason to be concerned about the future from a lot of different angles."

But an opinion writer for the Abington Patch doesn’t agree, saying-- Contagion doesn’t really say anything at all.

"‘Contagion’ is not without its virtues, but it's hard to see exactly what its conclusion is: That contagious death is right around the corner for all of us? That hysteria is bad? I'm still not sure, and I don't know that the movie is either.”

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