I recently stumbled on 93 Days, which is based on the real story of how Nigeria managed to keep their 2014 outbreak of Ebola minimal despite initial political pressure and through good management. I personally enjoyed it: The human element made it moving, the quiet desperation made it exciting, and the sensible actions helped to find a relatively happy ending for a story about an illness that, as one doctor puts it, “kills 8 out of 10”.
I was surprised that multiple Amazon reviews complained of how “vanilla and unrealistic” this “feel-good” movie was. Given this is based on a true story, it is a good thing that “not enough people died”. Another funny complaint to me was the claim that the story was “implausible”. Well, reality defies that reviewer’s expectations, then.
However, I do understand missed expectations. The Amazon algorithm recommended 93 Days to me after I had watched some zombie movies on Amazon Prime Video. (Also, the Amazon subtitles had multiple inaccuracies, so do not rely on them.) If I just watched some post-apocalyptic landscape with literally hundreds of infected and protagonists fighting their way through a hellish world, this decidedly does not meet that expectation. The low Amazon review rating is really Amazon’s fault for recommending this after more traditional zombie movies and not having a note in the summary about this being based on a true story. I myself felt the pacing was a bit slow— but I had just watched a movie where zombies showed up within the first 10 minutes and I had thought this was another zombie movie until they mentioned Ebola.
Now for the synopsis/summary (with spoilers):
Synopsis
The short version of the plot is probably: Mr. Sawyer arrives in Nigeria from Liberia sick and insists he has malaria when questioned. He is actually now Nigeria’s index case for Ebola.
To be a bit more detailed, Mr. Sawyer, a Liberian-American, is sent to First Consultants Medical Center, where Doctor Ameyo Adadevoh is suspicious of Mr. Sawyer’s claims of malaria when the test results and symptoms do not line up. She has him tested for Ebola and warns the staff to be cautious. The Liberian embassy is outraged that one of their citizens is being held against his will and the Nigerian government is not keen on antagonizing other governments. Mr. sawyer continues to misbehave by pulling out his IV and splattering the present nurses with blood. Unfortunately for Mr. Sawyer and the staff attending him, it is confirmed that Mr. Sawyer has Ebola! He dies shortly after.
Everyone panics at the thought of deadly Ebola free in very densely populated Lagos. (8 out of 10 afflicted die, as a doctor points out!) The staff at the Medical Center is alarmed but resigned to testing themselves daily. Those who were in the same space as Mr. Sawyer at any point agonize over their interactions, the potential points of transmission. The ill-prepared government is quite concerned but is collaborating with the WHO to prepare appropriate facilities. The drivers of the Ebola vans to transport Ebola patients are very frightened. Sadly, they all have no choice but to carry on, as someone reminds them in an encouraging speech.
Multiple First Consultants staff go to the quarantine space: Ada, who will ultimately survive but struggles to drink her replenishment liquids after a while and feels the deaths of everyone else deeply. Madam Eve, who is already present by the time Ada gets to the quarantine ward. Morris, who cannot shows his upset during his call because they are slow in sending the Ebola vehicle to retrieve him and he is terrified of infecting his brother’s children. Justina, who had the misfortune to catch Ebola on her first day working at First Consultants and then suffer a miscarriage. Even Doctor Adadevoh, whose decision to keep Mr. Sawyer from being released, succumbs— and she simply changed an IV bag for Mr. Sawyer once and never touched him!
The quarantine space is basically full of suffering. Only one (uninfected) doctor is shown going in regularly, and he openly admits to being terrified of Ebola, too. He wears a full PPE suit. When Madam Eve dies, her body is left as company for the living patients as the people outside prepare appropriate body and bedding disposal, because Ebola is that terrible and transmittable. The replenishment liquids are difficult to drink, but everyone does it.
(For a side-note, I think the new quarantine space was built during the outbreak and patients were transferred there during the outbreak, but the movie appears to show only the one quarantine building. Also, Ada is Doctor Ada Igonoh, who has an interview at NPR and her story in her own words.)
In the end, against a backdrop of large posters of 4 deceased members of First Consultants Medical Center, there is a speech about the sacrifices made and some blame given to Mr. Sawyer, whose questionable judgement regarding travel led to the entire situation in the first place.
Last Thoughts
What a legacy: To be known as the man who started an outbreak!
