By Geno McGahee
On August 2, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Radius-TWC and Dimension Films will release VIRAL on DVD and On Demand. It will be released on Digital HD on July 29th. VIRAL concerns a town quarantined after a disease begins to spread, starting at the local high school. Unlike many virus-related films, this movie relies on character development, quality acting and an interesting story to keep the attention of the audience and it works very well.
Emma (Sofia Black-D’Elia) is starting out again in a new high school and is recovering from a broken home. Her father (Michael Kelly) has become her science teacher and the reason for his marriage and the departure of their mother remains a mystery. Emma is reserved and introverted while her older sister, Stacey (Analeigh Tipton), is outgoing and reckless. Despite their differences, they are very close.
A romance sparks between Emma and her next door neighbor, Evan (Travis Tope). Their relationship is slow-moving but strong as Stacey maintains her rocky relationship with her tattooed boyfriend. At school, one of Emma’s friends begins coughing and then coughs up some blood. They later find her lying on the floor in the cafeteria and she spits up blood into the face of another student. The entire town is quickly quarantined and the two sisters are left alone in their house without much clue as to what is going on.
The military has taken control and are beginning to kill the infected. This doesn’t stop the group of teens in the town from having a party. Unfortunately, it gets crashed by an infected teen and Stacey gets infected. Emma and Evan keep her locked up with the hope of curing her, while hiding her from the military. The relationship between Emma and Evan continues to develop and we learn more about their connection and how it works.
The world continues to fall apart and this virus appears to be a big problem across the globe. The infected are now gathering and it seems like the new couple are the only survivors in this town. It is now a fight for survival and a hope to escape, leading to a fun conclusion with plenty of fireworks.
VIRAL is directed by the team of Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. They are known for their work in the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY series, but this film is a much better example of their talents. VIRAL really did everything right. The performances were great across the board, but the three stars, Black-D’Elia, Tipton and Tope were standouts and were easy to root for.
I highly recommend VIRAL. The pace starts slow and continues to build up steam until the climax of the film. The only thing that I found disappointing was the lack of answers at the very end. Perhaps there is a plan for a sequel. In the end, this film is a winner and a fun time.
Rating: 7/10
