Before the Fire is a tense and personal portrait of life during a pandemic for our heroine, Ava. It is currently available to rent from the FACETS Virtual Cinema until August 27. 

In March, when the COVID-19 induced stay-at-home orders began, two distinct groups of people emerged: those who watched Contagion immediately, and those who avoided it like the plague (pun intended). 

Other pandemic films came before it, sure, but Steven Soderbergh’s meticulous 2011 epic seems to have eerily predicted the coronavirus pandemic about a decade in advance, leading to its go-to status for many Americans. It explores the global political implications of a virus through its ensemble cast depicting all levels of the social hierarchy. 

While many might argue that gravitating towards a film so prescient might be some new form of masochism, those of us willing to scratch the itch when real-life news no longer cuts it would beg to differ. Horror film has served as a form of catharsis for many since its beginning, and at an especially tense moment in history it is no wonder many searched for whatever pandemic film they could find. 

When talk of the coronavirus was a mere abstraction in the eyes of many Americans, streaming services began pushing pandemic-centered content. As early as January, when it quickly became the global reality it is today, this dark interest even expanded into video games. Viral outbreak simulator, Plague Inc. saw a sharp increase in sales worldwide as news of COVID-19 spread. 

Whether you find this indulgence to lack empathy or completely relatable, examining what makes and has always made the pandemic thriller so enticing to audiences produces interesting results. When considering the level of government conspiracy and corruption that usually comes packaged with pandemic centered cinema, it is no wonder that so many searching for answers in this seemingly unprecedented time looked towards the realm of fiction. 

The Werner Herzog-produced documentary A Gray State explores the suicide of David Crowley, an aspiring right-wing filmmaker who, at the time of his death, was crowd-funding a film about oppressive governmental control seized during a state of emergency. The circumstances surrounding Crowley and his family’s deaths led to online discussion from alt-right groups that he was getting too close to the truth for the government’s liking. 

In such unprecedented times, it is not shocking that films once written off have come to reflect modern cultural fears. To the everyday person in 2014, David Crowley’s Gray State would seem lightyears away from any realistically imaginable situation. Similarly, it took a completely world-shaking event like coronavirus for a film like Contagion to exit the realm of fun popcorn fare and enter national discourse.

When the film industry begins operating at full force again, the amount of pandemic-centered content we will likely be bombarded with is unimaginable (in fact, Amazon is ahead of the curve with their new series Utopia). While many existing films in this genre either focus on the geopolitical aspects of an outbreak or veer into full-on zombie territory, a film like Before the Fire can provide some much needed personal context to the mental and physical toll quarantine can take. 

While not at all inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, Before the Fire couldn’t have been released at a more opportune time. The film follows Ava (Jenna Lyng Adams), a young actress with a promising career that gets cut short when a pandemic hits the U.S. and her boyfriend tricks her into quarantining with his family on their farm. 

Before the Fire explores gaslighting in a relationship and trauma’s effect on the body and brain through a woman rising above extreme circumstances to do what is best for herself. The women at the heart of the film, director Charlie Buhler and writer/star Adams set out to make a pandemic film that stood out from the rest. In a recent interview, Buhler said: 

“We fought to make this movie because we felt that there was a very specific expectation about the types of stories women were able to tell. Jenna and I both love action and sci-fi, so we wanted to make a female protagonist that we women could really rally behind.”

Choosing a personal approach to the pandemic film by depicting the suffocating nature of quarantine, especially when in a bad relationship, is something that feels uniquely feminine. While the expansiveness of the global destruction is oftentimes a staple in pandemic films, Before the Fire proves that being stuck in assumed safety can sometimes be worse than fending off the virus alone.

You can watch Before the Fire through the FACETS Virtual Cinema until August 27. 

Emma Greenleaf is the Marketing Coordinator at FACETS and has been spending quarantine watching the films of Gregg Araki.