The COVID-19 pandemic caused a boost in the popularity of streaming services as many viewers started watching movies and series on the OTT platforms when they were locked inside. It also saw the rise in popularity of medical thrillers because the genre was thematically relevant at the time. The medical drama shows especially made for the best lockdown entertainment.

The popularity of the genre has only grown in recent years, as is witnessed by the demand for movies and shows like The Pitt, whose first season almost achieved complete sweeps at the Emmys and the Golden Globes. However, one particular type of medical thriller movie became especially popular during the COVID-19 lockdown, which has unfortunately not remained as popular afterward.

The apocalyptic medical thriller, perhaps due to the genre’s similarity with real-life circumstances at the time, reached unprecedented heights of popularity during the lockdown. Today, movies like Eddington, which is about the COVID-19 pandemic, are popular among viewers, but the pandemic subgenre remains underrated. One such underrated movie came out nearly a decade before COVID, which is chilling to watch.

Perfect Sense Is An Apocalyptic Romance Movie

David Mackenzie’s Perfect Sense, set in modern-day Glasgow, explores how the lives of people are affected by the spread of an unknown disease whose symptoms keep worsening with time. How it spreads is never explained, but despite initially being flagged as non-contagious, it grows quickly to cause a global epidemic. However, the disease does not seem to be directly fatal.

Eva Green plays Susan, an epidemiologist who co-discovers the disease with her colleagues after he notices a pattern among patients who report they cannot smell anymore. Initially skeptical of calling it contagious due to the distance between patients, she soon realizes the true nature of the disease and prepares for life with it, because she knows she cannot avoid infection.

Ewan McGregor plays Michael, a chef at a restaurant located opposite Susan’s apartment. He is cocky and unserious, but soon starts changing after an exchange with Susan leaves him wanting more. As he grapples with the consequences of losing his sense of smell as a chef, his romance with Susan becomes more serious than he was initially prepared to handle.

Perfect Sense’s Disease Is Eerily Similar to COVID

I am sure the detail of losing the sense of smell has already brought back memories for many readers. It is surprising that this movie, made in 2011, chose as one of its symptoms, the most common symptom of COVID-19, which didn’t become a global epidemic until almost 9 years later. This makes Perfect Sense an eerie film to watch.

The movie’s exploration of how an epidemic affects everyone’s mental health even when the disease doesn’t directly cause death or have any fatal effects is much easier to watch today than it would have been 5 – 6 years ago, when the COVID pandemic was still ongoing. The reminders of the effect of COVID make the viewing experience particularly bittersweet.

Ewan McGregor And Eva Green Have Great Chemistry

The strength of any good romance movie relies on the chemistry of its leads, and the way Ewan McGregor and Eva Green share the sense of tragedy between themselves is commendable. The unspoken threat of destruction, the constant reminders of loss, and the gradual muting of the world hang over them like a cloud even as their romantic relationship blooms.

The sexual tension between the actors is a careful balancing act of desperation, devastation, and depression. The slight glances and touches are dripping in sorrow, but their love for each other is also palpable. Green and McGregor physically convey that their characters often cling to each other as a means of coping with the spread of an epidemic around them.

Eva Green’s passionately observant and meditative voice provides background narration over the montages that depict the spread of the disease and the various reactions it causes. She reflects on the roles of the gradually disappearing senses in our ability to process our reality and preserve our sense of self. This aspect of Perfect Sense is the hardest to digest today.

The commentary on how we let ourselves go or still try to maintain a semblance of normalcy even as the human race’s fate becomes alarmingly uncertain reminds me of the way I used to feel during the pandemic. Even from my privileged position away from the outside world, where everyone was constantly risking death, the sense of doom was palpable.

Perfect Sense Should Have Become More Popular In Recent Years

The pandemic and epidemic subgenres of medical cinema became highly popular during COVID, since the movies reflected people’s relaities back at them, but somehow, Perfect Sense continues to fly under the radar of most fans of the genre. The gorgeous cinematography, which is admittedly gloomy to suit the mood, and the emotionally rich performances deserve to be talked about more.

Perfect Sense captures the feeling of living through an epidemic and watching the world stop moving while you try to continue with your life, praying to be spared and mentally preparing for the day you become another patient. It is a moving tragedy made even more meaningful by the romance shared by McGregor and Green’s characters in the actors’ most underrated work.