Disaster Movie Fans Need To Check Out This Terrifying Dustin Hoffman Thriller On Hulu

Dustin Hoffman has starred in lots of great movies during his legendary career, but perhaps none of them are more terrifyingly prescient than 1995's "Outbreak." The Wolfgang Petersen-directed thriller tells the story of an Ebola-like virus that travels from Africa to the United States through an infected Capuchin monkey, and it's up to a team of scientists and military personnel — led by Hoffman, Rene Russo, Kevin Spacey, and Cuba Gooding Jr.'s characters — to try and prevent it from causing a global catastrophe. Of course, that's easier said than done when powerful military leaders aren't interested in taking the advice of the experts on board.

In 1995, this doom-laden concept might have seemed far-fetched in the real world. However, now that we've lived through the emergence of COVID-19, "Outbreak" will probably hit home for many viewers. Perhaps this is why the movie is finding a new lease of life in the age of streaming, with FlixPatrol reporting that the film has broken into Hulu's top 10 charts ahead of feel-good movies like Adam Sandler's "Grown-Ups" and its sequel. Still, who doesn't love a good scare, right?

"Outbreak" is one of several seemingly outlandish movies with a realistic disease plot. From monkeypox to the B-virus to Simian haemorrhagic fever, primates have a history of infecting humans, and knowing that makes this Hoffman-starring disaster thriller all the more terrifying. Not only that, but the movie also has themes that came to light in the real world during the peak of COVID.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed that it only takes one infected animal to cause global chaos. That virus started with a tiny bat, so the thought of a single Capuchin monkey being capable of similar feats of destruction seems perfectly reasonable in today's day and age. If "Outbreak" was released in 2025, it would be interpreted as an overt commentary on the coronavirus. However, the disease in the movie is arguably more reminiscent of Ebola, which, for American audiences watching in 1995, was mostly associated with African countries. By 2014, though, the deadly fever had spread to the United States, so watching "Outbreak" with that harrowing thought in mind enhances its scary qualities for those who might have thought it could never happen here. 

What's more, the film deals with the theme of people not listening to scientists. In "Outbreak," Dustin Hoffman's character's warnings about the potential dangers of the virus are downplayed by the people at the top (when they aren't ordering the destructions of villages, anyway). This concept also doesn't seem far-fetched these days, as many high-ranking government officials dismissed the dangers of COVID during the early days of the pandemic. The leaders in this movie also want to conceal the virus so they can use it as a biological weapon — a theme that was actually topical in 1995, as history has shown that countries are more than happy to engage in biowarfare during times of conflict.

As evidenced by "Contagion" finding new fans during COVID times, disease-themed disaster movies from years gone by are relevant again in the 2020s. "Outbreak" is merely the latest one to strike a chord with modern viewers, and it probably won't be the last.