There have been a lot of films out there that have covered COVID-19, from serious documentaries to narrative works. The latter tend to be dramas, but I’ve also noticed a disturbing amount of low-budget horror films about the virus as well, which mainly seem to want to capitalize on the fear factor surrounding it.
However, I’ve never even heard of any faith-based COVID-19 movies. So it was a nice surprise to watch Applied Art Productions’ moving drama, “Anti Coronavirus,” just recently. Produced during the horrid lockdown year of 2020, it covers a lot of what we all went through with regard to COVID-19.
The film begins on a cheerful note as Bruce (Keith Lopez) and his wife, Laura (Tina Marie Nigro), return to their nice suburban home after a two-week vacation in Europe. As the couple enjoys some downtime together, they make plans to visit Bruce’s father, Max (Eddie Wockenfuss), who is in a nursing home.
While visiting, it becomes apparent that Bruce and Max don’t get along too well. Max is also rather fatalistic and talks about passing away all the time, which is kind of a downer for everyone who happens to be in his company.
Later, the couple meets up with Laura’s daughter Naomi (Courtney Asher), her husband, James (John Carr), and the younger couple’s two young daughters. During their leisurely get-together, Bruce begins exhibiting a nagging cough, and James remarks that it could be due to the emerging coronavirus that seems to be all over the news. Bruce, on the other hand, doubts the severity of the coronavirus and thinks that everyone is simply overreacting and “panicking.”
Bruce returns to work the next day and is just settling back into his office when his boss Dave (Mark Speno) strolls in. Dave tells Bruce that the company has been sidelining employees because of the sagging economy and as such, Bruce will have to take a couple of weeks off.
Now stuck at home, Bruce not only becomes irritable, but his cough worsens to the point where Laura convinces him to go get a medical checkup. While Bruce is seeing the doctor, Laura and Naomi are out shopping and see some bare shelves. They even get into a physical altercation over the last pack of toilet paper with another shopper.
Bruce soon announces that he’s been diagnosed with the coronavirus and as a result, has been ordered to quarantine at home. His condition continues to worsen until medical workers wearing biohazard suits show up and escort him to a medical quarantine facility.
Bruce’s absence begins to have profound negative effects on the entire family. Laura becomes overstressed because of the mounting bills and is angry that Bruce can’t work and provide for them. Nosy reporters begin hovering around outside of the couple’s home like annoying gnats and constantly pester Laura about Bruce’s arrogant initial attitude toward the virus. They sneer about how he’s a patient zero who has negligently spread it around to potentially hundreds or possibly thousands of other people. And James and Naomi’s home life is thrust into turmoil when the latter asks her mother, Laura, to come and stay with them until Bruce gets better.
As Bruce’s condition continues to deteriorate, a tragedy strikes that drives the family even further to the brink of despair. Soon, they are at each other’s throats because of all of the mounting tension and stress they’re dealing with. But they do have a couple of things going for them, and that’s both their shared history as a family and strong faith in God. But will their faith and familial ties be able to sustain them through all of the tumult the world is going through?
I have to say right off the bat that this is one of the better-produced faith-based films I’ve watched as of late. The writing is solid and pairs well with the actors’ realistic performances. The way things start off all rosy and gradually begin to decline as the film progresses is like a microcosm of the entire pandemic and its numerous draconian lockdowns. It was almost like stepping back into those chaotic days and made me appreciate how far we’ve all come since then.
I also liked how the director, Mitesh Kumar Patel, didn’t hoist religion into viewers’ faces. We get to see nuanced instances of various family members relying on their faith at certain points in the film, but it never comes off as intrusive or preachy.
One particular scene that I found beautiful was when Laura, in a fit of despair, disappears from James and Naomi’s home (she feels she’s burdening them after overhearing complaints about her from James to Naomi). She shows up at the family’s church and is given some powerful spiritual guidance by the priest (Fred Gerle) that I not only found highly inspirational, but functional for everyday life.
There are many other touching scenes as well and they are all moving in their own ways. A huge takeaway for me after watching this film is that people (including me) can sometimes take even the most fundamental things for granted, such as family, economic security, and good health. “Anti Coronavirus” functions as a stark reminder that whatever you believe in, it’s good to express gratitude for everything positive in our lives, however little they may seem.
