Contagion is a 2011 American
science fiction medical thriller film directed by
Steven Soderbergh. The film features an
ensemble cast that includes
Marion Cotillard,
Bryan Cranston,
Matt Damon,
Laurence Fishburne,
Jude Law,
Gwyneth Paltrow,
Kate Winslet, and
Jennifer Ehle. The plot of
Contagion documents the spread of a virus
transmitted by
fomites, attempts by medical researchers and public health officials to identify and contain the disease, the loss of social order in a
pandemic, and finally the introduction of a
vaccine to halt its spread. To follow several interacting plot lines, the film makes use of the
multi-narrative "hyperlink cinema" style, popularized in several of Soderbergh's films.