10 Genius Ways Movies Made You Rewatch Them
4. By Being Insanely Prophetic - Contagion
Steven Soderbergh's pandemic thriller Contagion was well-received by critics and performed solidly at the box office in 2011, though at the time it was generally accepted to be a mid-tier effort from the director and ended up fading from the public consciousness in short order.
However, Contagion's popularity surged in 2020 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the film going viral as many pointed out the shocking similarities between its depiction of a viral outbreak and the one which actually happened. But this was no mere accident, as Contagion was tirelessly researched by screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, who consulted with both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and medical experts while penning the script.
More than that, though, Burns also perfectly predicted the frustrating human response to the scenario, both in terms of mass hysteria and how ill-intentioned grifters would capitalise on the panic for their own material gain, with Jude Law's conspiracy theorist character Alan Krumwiede peddling a fake cure.
Following the film's resurgence in popularity, Burns expressed surprise at so many considering the picture prophetic:
"It is also surreal to me that people from all over the world write to me asking how I knew it would involve a bat or how I knew the term 'social distancing.' I didn't have a crystal ball - I had access to great expertise. So, if people find the movie to be accurate, it should give them confidence in the public health experts who are out there right now trying to guide us."
While it's incredibly difficult for films to "predict" future events with any real certainty, Burns clearly did the meticulous leg-work when writing his script, resulting in a feature that, as is ultimately unfortunate, has aged exceptionally well.