Contagious (2023)
| Contagious | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Arild Pettersen |
| Written by | Arild Pettersen |
| Produced by | Magne Thanem Jesper Haugen |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Liv Aanderaa |
| Edited by | Ulf Lambertsen |
| Music by | Anita Velde |
| Distributed by | Holendaar Studio |
Release dates |
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Running time | 145 minutes |
| Country | Caspiaa |
| Budget | C45 million |
| Box office | C423 million |
Contagious is a 2023 Caspiaan medical disaster film written and directed by Arild Pettersen, starring Egil Stordalen and Emma Sahlberg, with Arthur Mjelde, Marius Silnes, Roy Ostberg, and Karsten Wollen in supporting roles. It is the second onscreen collaboration for Stordalen, Sahlberg, and Mjelde, all of whom previously co-starred in 2022's Counterfeit. The film focuses on an outbreak of Kotana, a fictional ebolavirus- and orthomyxoviridae-like virus, in Artegana and later in a small town in Caspiaa. It is primarily set in the Caspiaan Institute of Public Health's Infectious Disease Center and the fictional town of Aall Creek, Caspiaa. The plot of Contagious speculates how far military and civilian agencies might go to contain the spread of a deadly, contagious disease.
The film released to critical and commerical success, and was nominated for multiple awards at the 97th Tofino Film Festival. Criticism was levied towards the movie studio and the director due to the ongoing Ebola virus pandemic in South Adula and Phou at the time of the film's release.
Plot
In 1977, a virus called Kotana, which causes a deadly fever, is discovered in the central Adulan jungle. To keep the virus a secret, Caspiaan peacekeeper officers Torfinn Eggen and Mathias Ingebritson destroy the camp where soldiers were infected.
Twenty-eight years later, Colonel Jørn Aukland, a CASPAID virologist, is sent to investigate an outbreak in Artegana. He and his crew—Lieutenant Colonel Tord Landsverk and new recruit Major Julian Sletten—gather information and return to Caspiaa. Ingebritson, now a brigadier general and Jørn's superior officer, dismisses the latter's fears that the virus will spread.
A white-headed capuchin monkey; that is host to the virus is smuggled into the country. Leif Rendahl, a worker at an animal testing laboratory, is infected when he steals the monkey to sell on the black market. Leif takes the monkey to Sindre Moseby, a pet-store proprietor in the coastal-Tarin Sea village of Aall Creek. He fails to sell the monkey after it scratches Sindre, who also becomes infected. After releasing the monkey into the woods outside of the nearby community of Tonnessen, he develops symptoms on a flight to Viitaniemi and infects his girlfriend, Casi, at the airport. Their illness is investigated by Dr. Karin Johannessen, a CIPH (Caspiaan Institute of Public Health) scientist and Jørn's ex-wife. Leif, Casi, and Sindre die, but Karin determines that no one else in Viitaniemi was infected.
A hospital technician in Aall Creek is infected when he accidentally breaks the vial of Sindre's blood. The virus quickly mutates into a strain capable of spreading like influenza, becoming airborne and causing a number of people to be infected in a movie theater. Jørn flies to Aall Creek against Ingebritson's orders, joining Karin's team with Landsverk and Sletten. As they begin a search for the monkey, the Army quarantines the town and imposes martial law. Landsverk is infected when his suit tears and Karin accidentally sticks herself with a contaminated needle while treating him.
When Ingebritson provides an experimental serum which cures the original strain, Jørn realizes that his superiors were aware of the virus before the outbreak. Jørn learns about Operation Clean Sweep, a plan for the military to contain the virus by bombing Aall Creek, incinerating the entire town and its residents, ostensibly to prevent Kotana's expansion to pandemic proportions. However, Eggen, now a major general, plans to use the operation to conceal the mutated virus' existence so the original strain can be preserved for use as a biological weapon.
To prevent Jørn from finding a cure, Eggen orders him arrested for carrying the virus. Jørn escapes before he and Sletten fly a helicopter to the ship at sea which carried the monkey. Jørn obtains a picture of the monkey and releases it to the media; a Tonnessen resident, Mrs. Skeie, realizes that her daughter Anny has been playing with the monkey (which she named Hedda) and calls the CIPH. Jørn and Sletten arrive at the Jeffries' house where Sletten tranquilizes Hedda after Anny coaxes her out of hiding in the woods nearby. When he learns from Jørn about Hedda's capture, Ingebritson delays the bombing.
On their return flight, Jørn and Sletten are chased by Eggen in another helicopter. Sletten fires two rockets into the trees to deceive him into thinking that they crashed. Once back in Aall Creek, Sletten mixes Hedda's antibodies with Ingebritson's serum to create an antiserum; although Landsverk has died, they save Karin. Eggen returns to base and resumes Operation Clean Sweep, refusing to listen to Ingebritson. Jørn and Sletten fly their helicopter directly into the path of the bomber's approach to its target.
With Ingebritson's help, Jørn persuades the bomber's flight crew to detonate the thermobaric bomb over water and spare the town. Before Eggen can order another bombing, Ingebritson relieves him of command and orders his arrest. Jørn and Karin reconcile as Aall Creek's residents are cured.
Cast
- Egil Stordalen as Colonel Jørn Aukland
- Emma Sahlberg as Dr. Karin Johannessen
- Marius Silnes as Brigadier General Mathias Ingebritson
- Roy Ostberg as Major General Torfinn Eggen
- Arthur Mjelde as Lieutenant Colonel Tord Landsverk
- Karsten Wollen as Major Julian Sletten, MD
- Christopher Dybdahl as Leif Rendahl
- Sigmund Borseth as Sindre Moseby
- Trond Asker as Zamastanian mercenary
- Solfrid Kile as Casi