Four Pandemic Films For Your Virtual Movie Night

These four films range from the 1970’s to the early 2000’s, but any of them will start up a conversation with friends.

As weeks of social-distancing become the new norm, many people are holding birthday parties, game nights, and more on meeting apps like ZOOM and Skype.

They’re also going to the movies… virtually, of course.

Film critic Corey Hall has four films for your next movie night, all of them conversation starters for the moment we’re living through.

Click the player above to hear critic Corey Hall countdown the list with CultureShift’s Amanda LeClaire. 


Children of Men (2006)

“When infertility threatens mankind with extinction and the last child born has perished, a disillusioned bureaucrat (Clive Owen) becomes the unlikely champion in the fight for the survival of Earth’s population; he must face down his own demons and protect the planet’s last remaining hope from danger.”

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Hulu, YouTube

 

12 Monkeys (1995)

“Traveling back in time isn’t simple, as James Cole (Bruce Willis) learns the hard way. Imprisoned in the 2030s, James is recruited for a mission that will send him back to the 1990s. Once there, he’s supposed to gather information about a nascent plague that’s about to exterminate the vast majority of the world’s population.”

Stream on: Amazon Prime, Hulu

 

The Omega Man (1971)

“Due to an experimental vaccine, Doctor Robert Neville is the only survivor of an apocalyptic war, with the exception of a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people who are also homicidal maniacs. They blame science and technology for their condition and they see Neville, as the last symbol of science, therefore he must die. Neville, uses everything at his disposal in an attempt to survive.”

Stream on: Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play

 

Contagion (2011)

“When Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns to Minnesota from a Hong Kong business trip, she attributes the malaise she feels to jet lag. However, two days later, Beth is dead, and doctors tell her shocked husband (Matt Damon) that they have no idea what killed her. Soon, many others start to exhibit the same symptoms, and a global pandemic explodes. Doctors try to contain the lethal microbe, but society begins to collapse as a blogger (Jude Law) fans the flames of paranoia.”

Stream on: Amazon Prime, YouTube, Hulu, Google Play

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Author

  • Amanda LeClaire
    Amanda LeClaire is an award-winning host and producer of CultureShift on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. She’s a founding producer of WDET’s flagship news talk show Detroit Today, and a former host/reporter for Arizona Public Media. Amanda is also an artist, certified intuitive and energy healer, and professional tarot reader.