Eye of the Storm 2023 Movie Review: The Story of Human Resilience
Eye of the Storm Movie 2023 review – a drama-thriller movie directed by Lin Chun-Yang is based on a real-life event during the first coronavirus outbreak called “SARS” or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that happened worldwide including in Taiwan way back in 2003. The story revolves around a hospital in Taiwan that goes into forced lockdown after identifying that the virus has spread all over the facility, transmitting infections to hundreds of people both medical personnel and patients.
Unlike the applause that the Taiwan Government received when containing Covid-19 spread in the country, they suffered from multiple deaths and hundreds of infection cases reported due to a lack of awareness and preparation in battling the deadly virus. Launching a post-covid medical-drama movie, depicting the hardship and agony that the front liners experienced being trapped in the hospital with the SARS suspected patients, is emotionally engaging. The film has all the right triggers as the world had completely shut down not long ago because of the Covid-19 pandemic that took millions of lives.
Eye of the Storm 2023 Movie Review: About the Story
Eye of the Storm is a movie following the life of Dr. Zheng Xia, a thoracic surgeon from Tapei City Hospital. He was already on his way home after his night hospital duty when suddenly he received a call that he needed to go back to the hospital to attend surgery. After the surgery, he found himself locked in the hospital, along with all the people inside the facility, as a safety measure due to SARS cases reported from the place. Hospital staff and other people trapped inside the hospital clashed with the police as they were trying to escape their death sentence.
Some of B Wing’s staff protest with banners hung out saying, “Refuse to live with SARS patients, Violations of the rights of the nursing personnel” and throwing medical scrubs out from the window, in what is such an emotional and tear-jerking scene. It portrays that even as a frontliner, they also fear death, and the thought of not seeing their family ever again worries them. The movie also showcases the distress and restlessness of the medical staff as they continued to attend to their patient's needs. Doing round-the-clock duties and the threat of taking care of SARS patients. But some chose to stay in their headquarters because of the fear of being infected.
Dr. Xia appeared to be a selfish, self-centered doctor as he tried to convince the head doctor to include him on the extraction list of medical personnel who can leave the hospital and go back home. But he finally came to his senses, remembering how important his duty is as a doctor in a life-and-death situation like this. He turned down the opportunity to leave and offered to help the B-wing cluster – where all the SARS patients were currently being treated.
He even performed major surgery on a SARS patient and shared how proud he felt as he talked to his daughter over the phone.
Eye of the Storm Movie 2023 – Is it Worth Streaming?
Eye of the Storm 2023 movie starts slow as it’s trying to build the character’s emotions and relationships, which I think works well as the movie continues. It dives deep into the psychology of each character rather than the intense actions that you all might expect. The film also has the perfect cinematography, that fits its melodrama-suspense vibe and marries the urgency of the scenes. The casting is well-picked as they act effortlessly in their given roles. The movie has a sad narrative approach as the story is very personal but overall, it’s worth watching.