Contagion (2011)

           What would happen if a viral pandemic that made HIV look like child's play struck the world? That's the subject matter of this international thriller from director Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Ocean's Eleven, Traffic, Erin Brockovich, and The Girlfriend Experience). The plot lines are fairly predictable: scientific sleuthing by medical experts like Erin Mears (Kate Winslet), public paranoia, mass panic, conspiracy theories, charges of profiteering, political hand-wringing, global interconnections, an angry blogger with unclear motives and a huge internet following who claims to have a homepathic cure, and a family story that centers around Mitch (Matt Damon), whose wife Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow) was one of the first victims. After I left this movie I went to the men's room and washed my hands — it's scary!