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Taiwanese thriller film Eye of the Storm premiered earlier this year in April and was later acquired by Netflix for global distribution, only dropping on the platform today, i.e., August 15, 2023. The film is based on the 2003 SARS outbreak, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, that infected thousands of people across several countries.
Eye of the Storm depicts the happenings at a hospital that goes into lockdown after an unknown virus spreads in the facility, infecting hundreds of medical staff, healthcare providers, patients, and their family members. There are multiple deaths as people remain in constant fear of getting infected. Amidst paranoid doctors and nurses, taking care of patients and fulfilling their respective duties.
Directed by Lin Chun Yang and executive produced by Aileen LI Yiu-Wa, the medical drama stars Wang Bo-chieh, Jing-Hua Tseng, Simon Hsueh, Chloe Xiang, Hsieh Ying Shiuan, and Angel Lee, among other actors. Filmagic Pictures Co serves as the production company. The film has also garnered critical acclaim and several awards and nominations at the Taipei Film Awards.
Netflix's latest Taiwanese film Eye of the Storm hits home in terms of portraying a medical crisis and epidemic
Releasing post-COVID-19, the Taiwanese medical drama and thriller film Eye of the Storm seems to be doing justice to depicting the flawed medical system not just in Taiwan but across the globe, despite the central plotline recounting a similar outbreak from two decades ago on a much smaller scale.
The film hits home as it portrays the horrors of an epidemic and the spread of an unknown, deadly virus at a hospital. The facility goes into lockdown as medical staff, healthcare providers, patients, and family members get infected by the virus that kicks off by giving the carrier a fever and causes acute respiratory issues, killing them in the process.
Eye of the Storm also shows conflicting opinions and contrasting actions taken by people who fear contracting the virus, which is killing people. One such individual is Dr. Zheng Xia, a thoracic surgeon who is trapped at the hospital. He, along with other high-end doctors and surgeons, keeps away from the "B" wing, which seems to be the part of the facility where the outbreak started.
Meanwhile, nurse Tai-He and Dr. Lee struggle to tend to ailing patients as their co-workers go on strike for human rights violations when authorities refuse to let them outside the hospital. All those inside the facility are stuck in lockdown, including the taxi driver, whose chance encounter with Dr. Xia got him stuck in the compound.
Contradictory to the actions of many healthcare officials and medical staff, the taxi driver shows compassion and takes care of the head nurse's daughter while she takes her last breaths after getting infected by the deadly virus.
The film takes viewers through emotional and tragic sequences to narrate the story of an epidemic from different perspectives. While the powerful maintain autonomy over the situation, those in the lower ranks are made to do the difficult work. The situation is compared to a battlefield, and they fight to survive.
Not long ago, the world suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic and witnessed similar situations with healthcare providers on the frontlines, risking their lives to save countless others. Eye of the Storm narrates one such story.
By the end of the film, Dr. Xia, who initially appeared to be a selfish surgeon in a rush to get himself on the list of people who were to be rescued first, had performed a C-section on a pregnant woman infected by the virus. He also helps tabloid journalist Jin uncover the origin of the virus.
The concluding scenes were rather dramatic, as Dr. Xia gets off a call with his daughter, whose birthday he couldn't attend, and looks to his right side to see a heavily breathing nurse, Tai-He. The film has an open ending and doesn't show the aftermath or discuss the cure.
Eye of the Storm is now available to stream on Netflix.
