Directed by the masterful Steven Soderbergh, Contagion is a stylish thriller, which imagines the panic when a deadly new virus threatens to become a global epidemic. Scott Z. Burns’s smart script zigzags from Hong Kong to London, Tokyo, Minnesota and beyond, examining the reaction of governments, scientists and the public and unearthing personal dramas in the midst of global catastrophe.

Only once does the film resort to cheap disaster movie tactics, as two surgeons peel back the scalp of the first victim to examine her brain for signs of the infection. Otherwise, Soderbergh shows cool restraint, killing off major cast with little fanfare as the virus shows no mercy.

Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns from a business trip in Hong Kong with acute flu-like symptoms. Her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) dutifully nurses her and their son Clark (Griffin Kane), who is also feeling ill. Beth dies and soon Clark is dead too.

Mitch is rushed into isolation but miraculously he seems to be immune to the outbreak and is soon allowed to return home with his daughter, Jory (Anna Jacoby-Heron), who has been out of town. More cases are reported by an increasingly hysterical media and Dr Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dispatches one of his best operatives, Dr Erin Mears (Kate Winslet), to the Emhoff house in Minneapolis to trace the pathogen.

Meanwhile, epidemiologist Dr Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) from the World Health Organisation heads for Hong Kong to see if Beth contracted the virus there.

In a secret laboratory, Dr Ally Hextall (Jennifer Ehle) and Dr David Eisenberg (Demetri Martin) try to engineer an antivirus, with guidance from respected academic Dr Ian Sussman (Elliott Gould). But conspiracy theorist blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) thwarts their efforts.

Contagion opens on the second day of the outbreak and charts the virus to the point when scientists make a vital breakthrough. Tension is palpable from the opening frames and Cliff Martinez’s electronic score quickens the pulse. Damon delivers another terrific performance as a family man. Winslet and Ehle are equally impressive. Law sports a snaggletooth and an Australian accent as the agent provocateur, who cynically believes the lethal strain could end the recession for pharmaceutical companies.

Grace Bennett (Selena Gomez) graduates from high school and looks forward to a trip to Paris with friend Emma (Katie Cassidy) in Monte Carlo. But Grace’s parents Robert (Brett Cullen) and Pamela (Andie MacDowell) are worried that Emma will be a bad influence so they pay for step-sister Meg (Leighton Meester) to join the expedition. At the Eiffel Tower, they lose their tour guide and seek sanctuary from the rain in a five-star hotel where Grace is mistaken for celebrity Cordelia Winthrop-Scott (Gomez again). Emma persuades Grace to carry on the deception. They head for Monte Carlo where the real Cordelia is due. There, Grace — posing as Cordelia — falls for Theo (Pierre Boulanger), while Meg becomes smitten with hunky Australian backpacker Riley (Luke Bracey) and Emma realises that her heart belongs to her Texan boyfriend, Owen (Cory Monteith).

Monte Carlo trundles from A to B without deviation or emotional upheaval, telegraphing each pothole on the road to young love well in advance. Gomez is a likeable heroine but her character is undernourished while Cassidy and Meester make the most of their similarly two-dimensional travelling companions.

The film is preceded by a computer-animated short called Scrat’s Continental Adventure, featuring the sabre-toothed squirrel from the Ice Age films.