10 Scariest Movies That Aren't Horror

When Steven Soderbergh's pandemic thriller Contagion was released back in 2011, many opined that while it was entertaining, it also felt a touch too ridiculous at times.

And then COVID happened.

Needless to say, Contagion's account of what humanity would be reduced to by a pandemic was pretty much spot-on, with Scott Z. Burns' expertly researched script conveying the fear, the paranoia, the selfishness, and yes, the grifters trying to profit off it all.

Thankfully COVID wasn't nearly as deadly as the virus in Contagion, which sweeps the world and unexpectedly wipes out major cast members totally out of nowhere. Soderbergh's detached directorial style only further highlights the staid eeriness with which the virus takes lives, obliterates social order, and shows us all who we really are.

As awful as COVID has been, Contagion posits a considerably bleaker situation for humanity, and one we should probably be glad we didn't end up with.