Matt Damon’s Pandemic Thriller Becomes a Global Hit on HBO Max

Timelessness makes a movie a classic; some are instantly deemed a force of nature, like Citizen Kane, The Wizard of Oz, The Godfather, and more. And then there are movies that earn "classic" status over time, like The Shawshank Redemption, Blade Runner, which audiences initially panned but built a massive underground sci-fi cult following on home video, or the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski, which got its due years later.

Another movie that fits the latter description is Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, which, for good reason, became a pandemic-era watch as the world tried to make sense of its present. The thriller has a simple premise: Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns to Minneapolis from a business trip in Hong Kong and dies from a mysterious illness. Her husband, Mitch (Matt Damon), discovers he is naturally immune but must isolate to protect his daughter. Things take a turn when the mysterious illness becomes a pandemic, and an international team of doctors, coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO), must deal with the rapid spread of a deadly virus.

In a curious case of life imitating art, the movie touches on the effects of globalization, where travel, urban density, and international commerce can turn a localized virus into a global catastrophe within days. It also addresses misinformation, as Soderbergh shows how panic and conspiracy theories spread faster than the virus itself. But the most chilling reflection comes from the film's examination of society's fragile veneer under martial law, juxtaposed with the self-sacrifice of public health workers. Remember that the feature came out in 2011, a decade before the real world saw a pandemic.

With compelling performers like Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, and Gwyneth Paltrow, Contagion became a worldwide hit, earning $136.5 million at the box office. The film was praised for Soderbergh’s detached direction, clinical accuracy, and its tense, documentary-like pacing. Nonetheless, it rose to modern-classic status during the pandemic, as people saw real life play out in real time, making its legacy almost prophetic.

'Contagion' Returns to Streaming Charts

And perhaps fans are now revisiting the horrors of the film again this spooky season. Contagion is the number one movie on HBO Max’s global charts, as per FlixPatrol. It's in good company with other horror features like Evil Dead Burn, Speak No Evil, The Silence of the Lambs, Seven, and more.