EMERGENCY DECLARATION: Contagion On A Plane

With new mutations of the COVID-19 virus still popping up seemingly every day and monkeypox cases spreading faster than vaccines can be doled out, one might wonder if it’s too soon for an anxiety-inducing thriller about a hyper-contagious and incredibly deadly virus being spread within the claustrophobic confines of an aircraft. But that is the premise of Emergency Declaration, the latest film from writer-director Han Jae-rim (The Face Reader, The King) — a film that, to be fair, was actually greenlit back in 2019, before we were all launched headfirst into this ongoing global health crisis that refuses to end.

A box office smash when it opened earlier this year in South Korea, the remarkably prescient Emergency Declaration boasts impressive performances from the likes of Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jeon Do-yeon. However, even a cast packed with charismatic stars cannot fully distract the audience from some of the film’s weaknesses, including a script packed with soap opera plot twists and a lengthy running time that overstays its welcome.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

The film kicks off at Incheon International Airport where a variety of characters are preparing to board a flight to Honolulu, including the wife of police detective In-ho (Song Kang-ho), who cannot join her on vacation due to his work, and divorced dad Jae-hyuk (Lee Byung-hun), who is braving his phobia of flying to take his young daughter to Hawaii in the hope that the clean air will help her eczema.

While in the airport, Jae-hyuk and his daughter are approached by a strange young man named Jin-seok (a revelatory Yim Si-wan) who keeps asking them suspicious questions. In the bathroom, Jae-hyuk’s daughter sees Jin-seok cut open in his armpit and place a cartridge there before stitching it up again. He then purchases a one-way ticket on the same flight to Honolulu.

At the same time, In-ho is alerted to a viral video of a young man who appears to be threatening a terrorist attack against an airplane; you can probably guess who the man is. A troubled scientist, Jin-seok has been experimenting with a highly contagious virus, working to shorten the incubation time so that he can infect and kill as many people (including himself) in as short a time as possible. The chosen laboratory for his final experiment? That flight to Honolulu.

Needless to say, In-ho’s personal investment in tracking down the terrorist becomes all-consuming once he realizes the suspect is on the very same flight as his wife. But saving everyone on the plane from Jin-seok’s viral rampage is not so simple. When people on board start quickly and gruesomely dying—complete with blisters, bursting capillaries, and vomiting blood — U.S. authorities refuse to let the plane land in Hawaii. But even the Korean government is hesitant to allow the flight to return, especially without a plan in place for treating and combating the virus. After all, what if it spreads from the plane to the rest of the country? Before long, a global pandemic could ensue.

High Anxiety

Needless to say, the all-too-timely subject matter makes Emergency Declaration hit a lot different than if it had been released pre-2020. If you’ve flown somewhere since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the film’s horrifying depiction of being trapped on board a trans-Pacific flight with a deadly virus will send “what if?” shivers down your spine; if you haven’t, you’ll probably want to put off flying for a while longer after watching it. (That the virus in question features a terrible cough, like COVID-19, and blisters, like monkeypox, really makes me want to know if Han Jae-rim had a crystal ball at his disposal while writing the film’s script.)

The film’s rapid-fire cutting between scenes on board the plane and scenes on the ground, in which In-ho runs around looking for a cure for the virus while government minister Sook-hee (Jeon Do-yeon) tries to figure out how and where to land the flight, ratchets the anxiety of watching these events unfold to almost unbearable levels, especially since Emergency Declaration boasts a running time of nearly two and a half hours. That’s a hell of a long time to have one’s adrenaline pumping, enough time to make you start wondering if you too have a virus. Needless to say, the script has more than its share of twists and turns, some of which are more unbelievable than others—including and especially the very melodramatic reason why Jae-hyuk has a phobia of flying.

What does resonate with the viewer is the film’s depiction of the response to the attack, both at home and abroad. The governments of the U.S. and Japan refuse to allow the plane to land within their borders, providing little more than thoughts and prayers—and in Japan’s case, the threat of being shot down by a missile! Meanwhile, friends and family of the passengers in Korea want their loved ones to land and receive medical treatment, while others claim that the threat of infection is too dangerous to everyone on the ground. Needless to say, the passengers are using the in-flight internet to follow along, forcing them to debate among themselves whether their own lives are worth saving. These scenes are some of the most devastating in the film; after two years of witnessing such a wide range of responses to COVID-19, seeing people argue whether or not certain people should be saved from a deadly virus or sacrificed for the greater good elicits an altogether unpleasant form of deja vu.

Emergency Declaration’s greatest asset is its all-star ensemble cast, who bring a real emotional weight to even the film’s most ridiculous scenarios. Song Kang-ho’s police detective grows so desperate to save his wife that he starts doing unbelievably stupid stuff, but because it’s Song, you cannot help but empathize with him. The same goes for Lee Byung-hun, whose Jae-hyuk finds himself forced into a heroic scenario he didn’t ask for while simultaneously confronting the darkest memory from his past. It’s a hell of a lot to deal with while also potentially contracting a deadly virus – too much, in my opinion – but Lee manages it regardless.

The real standout, though, is Yim Si-wan, who plumbs new depths as an actor in Emergency Declaration. A boy band alumnus and recognizable romantic lead from dramas such as Run On, Yim’s fresh-faced handsomeness somehow makes Jin-seok all the more terrifying. When he smiles at Jae-hyuk’s daughter or the suspicious flight attendants on board the plane, it never extends fully to his eyes, making his undeniable prettiness feel like a haunting mask; when his plot is eventually revealed, and the mask drops, his madness is something to behold.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an escape from our current reality, then Emergency Declaration is probably not the summer blockbuster for you. But as a disturbing reminder of how cruel humans can be to each other in a crisis, it is worth seeing.

What do you think? Are you ready for another film about a contagious virus? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Emergency Declaration opens in theaters in the U.S. on August 12, 2022. You can find more international release dates here.

Watch Emergency Declaration