Pandemic Movies and Examining the New Meaning of ‘Normal’

One of the less terrifying stories to break in the early days of the Covid pandemic was the news that the 2011 disaster film Contagion had rocketed up the streaming charts. The movie, which starred Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, and Gwyneth Paltrow in the lead roles, told the story of Mitch Emhoff (Damon), who loses his wife to a new, highly contagious virus, and the efforts of Dr. Ellis Cheever (Fishburne) to contain its spread.