Contracted

Contracted
Directed by Eric England
USA 2013

PLOT

Samantha is a young and beautiful woman going through a delicate phase in her life, following the end of a romantic relationship with her partner. One evening, at a party, she takes drugs and meets a handsome stranger. After several drinks, the two leave and have unprotected sex in a car.
Days later, Samantha begins experiencing severe physical discomfort and ailments. After various inconclusive medical visits, she realizes that her body is slowly starting to decay.

THOUGHTS

Contracted is a title that garnered attention and achieved moderate success, with this buzz helping it break out of the underground sphere and even leading to a sequel (*Phase II*). The script is rather conventional, the acting is solid, and the final twist leaves an impression.
England focuses heavily on the protagonist’s distress: the slow and inevitable physical decomposition mirrors her psychological breakdown throughout the film. Samantha’s insecurities drive her actions, starting with the most significant one—giving herself to a stranger during a wild night. She, an openly homosexual woman, engages in unprotected sex with a man whom the director deliberately chooses never to show us clearly. The man, more than being a person, represents danger, the threat, the evil (it’s impossible not to see this as a strong metaphor for AIDS).

The film flows well, with a fairly predictable and “controlled” development, avoiding excessive splatter or gratuitous gore, although “strong scenes” are not absent. However, there is plenty of discomfort: our protagonist (already heartbroken) suffers from abandonment, loneliness, and indifference attached to this disease, alongside physical pain.

We will witness her losing clumps of hair, bleeding profusely, shedding her nails, and literally watching her body rot in the most literal sense of the word.

PANDEMONIUM MOMENT

The sexual encounter with her friend Riley, where the young man, in addition to becoming infected, notices worms on the couch, crawling directly from Samantha’s body, which is now in an advanced state of decomposition.
The movie is available on Amazon Prime.