Unless you’ve been living on Mars (like “Total Recall”), you will of course know that in late 2019 and into 2020, the world has been affected in a profound way by the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. With cases in almost every country, life as we know has been put on hold. The pandemic has been a truly global event so it is very likely that it will inspire filmmakers to tell stories relating to it.

We’ve had countless films from “Saving Private Ryan” to “Jojo Rabbit” about WWII. Even much smaller events such as the 9/11 inspired several movies including “United 93”. Therefore, it feels almost inevitable that we will eventually have lots of films about the pandemic.

Some films have already adapted to this strange period such as “Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm” where the titular character finds himself having to quarantine due to the lockdown restrictions. However, I do worry about the artistic value of lots of potential films about Coronavirus. We’ve had films about diseases before such as “Contagion” and “Cabin Fever”. However, this pandemic has had a unique impact on the world in the way that it has forced most of the world’s population to live under severe restrictions. There are no killer zombies like in “World War Z” and there’s no mass destruction caused to cities like disaster films such as “Knowing”. For most people, this has been a boring experience where we have been sat indoors a lot more. How do you make an interesting film about that?

Movies are great at offering us a look at exciting worlds that are unlike anything we are likely to experience in our lives. Even when films are based on historical fact, as is the case with many war films, they are intriguing to us because we didn’t live during that time and experience those challenges. We might find ourselves watching somebody else sat in their home, contemplating what to watch on tv as they can’t go and meet their friends. It doesn’t sound like great entertainment to me.

Also, this whole period has caused distress to people around the world. Affecting people’s businesses as well as their social and religious commitments. Many in the filmmaking industry may feel particularly unhappy about wanting to remember a global event that decimated it. Cinemas and productions around the world were shut with no clarity on when business would be back to normal. Do we really want our escapist entertainment to remind us of the uncertainty and anxiety?