Why would they allow the infected in the general public?

Agreed. It makes no sense. There's an highly infectious epidemic going on, there is no treatment, there is no cure, the condition is "terminal"! But instead of quarantine, or anyone wearing Hazmat suits, they just allow these people to walk around and possibly infect healthy people? That's like allowing people infected with Ebola to walk around in the general public (oh wait, what?).

The movie was somewhat interesting from a dramatic point of view, but obviously would not have general appeal. And without Arnie in it, nobody would even bother. How would it have even cost $8.5 million to make a movie like this, unless most of the cost was Arnie's salary.

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I agree with you for the most part, although I do have some points in defense of the film's choices:

1. Considering people in small communities are more self-reliant and used to doing things their own way, if something like this (Maggie being allowed to come home) was going to happen, that would be where it's going to happen. If the infection is US/world-wide, the armed forces/Homeland Security/etc. aren't going to worry themselves with the small communities and farm houses. They're going to be trying to control the larger populations. The smaller communities are going to be left to defend and try to control themselves in the best ways they know how.

2. The infection seems to take quite a long time to fully manifest, with the people remaining themselves for quite a long while. That's going to make people more protective and likely to act how people do in this movie.

3. The people in this movie seem to know a great deal about the epidemic and don't seem overly panicked when people have it. I think, at this point in the movie, people know what it is, how it's transmitted, and are just waiting for it to die off without straight-out killing everyone who has it, which would still be considered murder to them because of reason 2 above.

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They addressed this on the radio near the beginning (when Maggie was swinging). One of the radio personalities was actually agreeing with you, that the government shouldn't wait for them to come back to kill the infected, they should just kill them. In real life infected people probably would be killed immediately.

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I guess it wasn't an airborne virus. That's like asking why people with AIDS are allowed to walk around. You're not going to catch it just by being near them.

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It's not realistic because the writer and director were trying to make a social commentary about euthanasia and how societal fears about diseases such as AIDS and Ebola.

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i do not find that to be realistic. People would never take that risk if such a massive, historic epidemic like this took place.

Forget people. The government wouldn't take that risk. This is why 28 Weeks Later scenario is more realistic where the government is quarenteeing people and monitoring them with army 24/7.


Then again, with recent Ebola outbreak in real life, you DID see how people would take their relatives and hide them in their homes. Stupid people like that is basically what Arnie's character was supposed to be representing, not normal people who'd consult doctors and know the inevitable to protect others as well.

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The authorities did not want to let them remain free, it was one of the main themes of the film. I'm not sure how the boy stayed out but Maggie only got released from the hospital because the doctor knew Wade. There was constant pressure to take them to the quarantine zones. Remember one when of the cops attacked Wade because he refused to let them take Maggie? When the kid's dad had a gun at his bedroom door, taking his sone forcibly?

It seems to me like they had a highly aggressive "voluntary" policy for quarantine.



What a lovely way to burn...

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Some of the characters talked about how horrible quarantine was. Maybe that is why the quarantine was not automatically forced on the infected. And there were things people knew to do to not get infected and were told when they must separate themselves from them. I do understand your viewpoint, but I thought of how Arnold's character felt. He did not want his daughter to be put in such a horrible place. I can see his viewpoint, too.

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