Eve of a Plague

A country in lockdown. The masking of America. An explosion of political unrest in response to a shocking display of police brutality. The arrival of the Covid 19 pandemic was the beginning of a unique period of U.S. history, a nightmarish interval of unprecedented collective insanity. That is the backdrop for this film adaptation of the play Love in the Time of Coronavirus. As in the play, this moment in history is presented in the guise of a romantic comedy; the story centers on the relationship between two high school juniors, one black and one white. Set in a small city near Minneapolis, the film recreates the pervasive atmosphere of denial, fear, paranoia, and paralysis that descended upon the nation as the lethal virus swiftly spread. And then came the police killing of George Floyd, a brutal and senseless murder that sent shock waves around the globe. The spontaneous outrage provoked by this demonstration of unfettered authoritarianism was channeled into an anti-government uprising the likes of which had not been seen in fifty years. The growing pandemic and the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing are both translated to the personal level by the portrayal of the impact of the disease, the murder, and their social and political consequences upon individual lives. The interpersonal and family dynamics that the film’s characters are attempting to navigate are thrown into wild disarray by the unavoidable social disruption, forced isolation, economic collapse, and political turmoil that are affecting everyone in the community, if not the entire world. It becomes impossible to separate the personal and the political: protest rallies are met with right wing backlash from white supremacist agitators; and when these malevolent reactionary forces target the young interracial couple, the high school romance is transformed into an action thriller.