Another movie about an intense epidemic sprung into theaters on Friday, September 9, and Contagion exudes just as much paranoia as the last few hundred.

After returning home to Minnesota from a business trip in Honk Kong, Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) becomes sick but waves it off as jet lag. Wrong. She is now the source of a fast-spreading disease that kills almost instantly once contracted. People all over the world are dropping like flies, and no one seems to know what it is. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must find a cure before the whole world (and I mean the whole world) is destroyed.

The film is an eye-opener. It shows us that an epidemic can occur at any time and from anything, and it is not pretty.

I was scared for a lot of the movie, to tell you the truth. People were in survival mode, and they were killing and stealing from anyone or anything. Fear took over. Everyone was dying, and all you could think was, “I’m next.”

I thought the actors did excellent jobs of portraying their characters and the severity of the situation, and I liked how they each had a different story of how they survived (or didn’t).

Matt Damon especially portrayed his character (Mitch Emhoff) well, and it was refreshing to see him as a father instead of a runaway spy (for the billionth time).

The story was captivating and kept me on the edge of my seat until the end. For some reason, though, I kept waiting for a twist in the plot, but there was none. I was a bit disappointed by that, but it was still a good movie. It has drama, action, a little gore, and tiny bit of romance. It was a good package.

I also found the end to be satisfying, which is interesting for a movie about people dying, but I thought the very end to the film to be quite funny.

The things that bothered me the most was that the movie felt slow in parts and that they showed pretty much everything in the trailer. Well, maybe the fact that it was set around Thanksgiving and Christmas also made it a bit of a downer, but I suppose you cannot always expect happy little elves singing in a meadow of rainbows.

Other than the downsides, it had a great cast, interesting plot, and even a lesson.

I think the public will enjoy this disease-induced thriller, and, if nothing else, it will turn everyone into regular hand washers, and that’s good.

I give this film four pairs of rubber gloves out of five, which is just what you will want to have after watching it.