Eye of the Storm – Netflix Review (4/5)

EYE OF THE STORM on Netflix is a new thriller from Taiwan (org. title Yi qi). We follow the SARS outbreak in 2003, where an entire hospital was forced into quarantine. It is brutal, heartbreaking, and feels all too familiar. Read our Eye of the Storm movie review here!

EYE OF THE STORM is a new Netflix thriller with a runtime of just under two hours. It’s a movie from Taiwan (org. title: Yi qi) and it deals with the SARS outbreak of 2003. The story plays out in a hospital where a suspicion that there might be someone with SARS results in a full lockdown.

If you’re still as fascinated with outbreak-focused stories, then you’ll want to watch this one. Extremely well-made, with intense performances by the actors, and a story that never feels forced.

Continue reading our Eye of the Storm movie review below. Find it on Netflix globally from August 15, 2023.

It happened 20 years ago but feels familiar

We begin in a hospital on a very normal day. A doctor is ending his shift and heads home to celebrate his daughter’s 5th birthday when he’s called back. Before long, there’s a suspicion of SARS and to avoid a full-blown epidemic, the hospital is forced into immediate lockdown.

Now everyone is in quarantine.

From healthcare providers of all kinds to patients (and their families, if they’re visiting) along with anyone else who happens to be at the hospital when the lockdown happens.

As we experienced all too recently with the recent pandemic, many people will die while others fight to save lives. Or, at the very least, help make the final moments more comfortable.

Appropriately, the movie is also dedicated to those “who gave themselves” 20 years ago.

Following two characters

While there are many characters in Eye of the Storm, we follow two healthcare providers especially. A young male nurse who always goes the extra mile and a seasoned doctor, who knows there will always be another patient. It never ends and you have to protect yourself as well.

Without giving away any spoilers, I can say that they both learn from each other. Perhaps the doctor even more than the nurse in some ways. He is simply reminded of why he became a doctor. The nurse is portrayed wonderfully by Jing-Hua Tseng (Detention), who gets a lot to work with. So does the doctor, who is portrayed equally great by Po-Chieh Wang.

As things escalate, the healthcare providers also feel forced to take chances they don’t want to. Others just decide to strike and make the burden on the remaining workers even bigger. While you can relate to everyone in some way, it is brutal, heartbreaking, and feels eerily familiar.

Watch Eye of the Storm on Netflix now!

The new Taiwanese thriller on Netflix is directed by Lin Chun-Yang. I was ready for this pandemic-themed thriller to feel long and maybe even have a few too many forced storylines. You know, the kind that really pulls on your heartstrings and has an intense score to underline the emotions.

However, it’s clear that the filmmakers decided this story is plenty intense and emotional in itself. The focus is very much on how people react in the face of a crisis. Do you help others first and protect yourself later? Vice versa? Some kind of hybrid solutions perhaps. Whatever you expect, this movie delivers heavily on realism and I loved it for that.

Eye of the Storm is out on Netflix globally from August 15, 2023.

Details

Director: Lin Chun-yang
Stars: Chloe Xiang, Hsieh Ying-xuan, Hsueh Shih-ling, Tseng Jing-hua, Wang Po-chieh, Simon Hsueh