Throughout history, humanity has faced several pandemics, including the Black Death in 14th-century Europe and the cholera outbreak in 19th-century Southeast Asia. The largest to date, however, is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spread far beyond a certain region or continent and instead spread throughout the entire world.

There are several popular movies that are pandemic-themed and interest is growing, now that we're all able to relate better to them.

During Goethe-Institut Indonesia's "The Fiction: The Prediction #2"  Instagram Live discussion on July 17, award-winning director Joko Anwar shared his thoughts on the relevancy of pandemic-themed films today as well as some of his favourite films.

“I believe that the pandemic was caused by humans exploiting nature. It does not take a scientist to come up with the logic that exploitation [of natural resources] can lead to outbreaks of disease or viruses, and that is how filmmakers have come up with numerous movies with this theme,” he said.

Asked by film programmer Sugar Nadia during the discussion whether Joko planned to or had any ideas about making a pandemic-themed movie, he answered no.

“Popular themes always interest viewers, so I think there will be future Indonesian filmmakers that will make [those] movies,” he said.

Joko said he instead preferred to watch lighthearted movies during the pandemic. He said that the situation was already stressful enough, and that watching apocalyptic or outbreak-themed movies would only make it worse.

“I watch movies like Home Alone [1990] or Bring It On [2000], because they make me happy while staying at home amid the stressful situation,” he said.

Without further ado, here are Joko's top picks:

The Bay (2012)

Set in a seaside community in Maryland, the United States, a waterborne mutant parasite is taking over the bodies and minds of its residents. Director Barry Levinson made this found-footage horror film, which adds to the realness of the events that unfold.

The Omega Man (1971)

Directed by Boris Sagal, The Omega Man is set in a post-apocalyptic world, humanity is ravaged by a virus that turns people into zombie-like creatures as the result of biological warfare between the US and the Soviet Union. The movie follows US Army doctor Col. Robert Neville (the late, great Charlton Heston) as he navigates his way through the crisis and nefarious agendas, all the while trying to find a cure.

If the synopsis sounds familiar, The Omega Man is based on Richard Matheson's novel, I Am Legend, first published in 1954.

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, the sequel to Cloverfield (2008) is a sci-fi psychological thriller with a twist. 10 Cloverfield Lane follows Howard (John Goodman) and Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), who have rescued Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) from a car crash. Michelle stays locked away in an underground bunker with the two men, who say the world outside has become uninhabitable because of a fallout in response to a monster invasion. Or is it?

Flu (Gamgi, 2013)

This Korean epidemic-themed disaster movie b  director Kim Sung-su tells of an outbreak caused by an unknown virus carried by illegal immigrants.

Set in Bundang district in Seongnam, about 20 kilometers from Seoul, smugglers and brothers Ju Byeong-woo (Lee Sang-yeob) and Ju Byung-ki (Lee Hee-joon) find the bodies of dead illegal immigrants in a shipping container. They rescue a lone surviving immigrant and send video evidence to their boss in the city.

Unfortunately, Byeong-woo is infected and the lone survivor escapes to cause an outbreak that prompts the Korean Army and reserve forces, the US Forces Korea, the US Air Force and the Korean CDC to impose quarantine and lockdowns to try and contain the spread.

World War Z (2013)

Another pandemic-themed movie, World War Z is very loosely based on the fictional zombie chronicle of the same name by Max Brooks.

Directed by Marc Foster and starring Brad Pitt, this apocalyptic action horror follows the story of Gerry (Pitt), a former UN field agent as he races to track down the virus' origins and against the pandemic to protect his wife and two daughters, along with everyone else in the world.

Outbreak (1995)

This epidemiological disaster movie directed by Wolfgang Petersen is about a deadly virus called Motaba that was discovered in an African jungle in 1967, but was kept hidden by the US government. The government conspiracy touch may resonate with today's viewers.

Outbreak opens with an illegally trafficked monkey from Africa that escapes from a pet store in a Californian town, infecting a couple of people along the way. Enter US Army virologist Col. Dr. Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman), who investigated the original outbreak in Zaire, and is now on the hunt to retrieve the monkey so he can extract its antibodies to create a vaccine. Sam finds his efforts constantly disrupted by Maj. Gen. Donal McClintock (Donald Sunderland). Morgan Freeman also stars as Sam's boss and Rene Russo as his recently divorced wife, who leads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the civilian efforts to contain the virus.

Contagion (2011)

Director Steven Soderbergh's Contagion takes a more realistic approach as it follows multiple characters fighting their own battles while the CDC searches for a cure to end the pandemic. Starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne, Contagion is widely touted as having foretold today's real-world pandemic.

The movie is eerily similar to COVID-19, with the fictional virus also originating from bats and killing millions who suffer flu-like symptoms. It also touches on the distressing effects of social distancing and disinformation, so it may offer insight for some viewers, while it may be too close to the truth for others.

12 Monkeys (1995)

This sci-fi movie by director Terry Gilliam is set in 2035, when humans are living underground after a deadly virus killed off most of humanity. James Cole (Bruce Willis), a prisoner in the underground compound, is selected to travel back in time to the virus' release in 1996 to discover its source and help scientists find a cure in his time.

12 Monkeys also stars Brad Pitt, Madeline Stowe, Christopher Plummer and David Morse, and is Joko's personal favorite.

“When I watched 12 Monkeys in theaters in 1995, I was fascinated by it. I went out of the theater and walked around for hours pondering about the movie,” he said. “For me, a good movie leaves people thinking.”

The reason no Indonesian movie appears on Joko's list is because the filmmaker couldn't think of one with a pandemic theme. He suggested the closest that Indonesian filmmakers ever got was Tengkorak (Skull, 2018).

Directed and written by Gajah Mada University lecturer and filmmaker Yusron Fuadi, who also stars, Tengkorak is set in Yogyakarta, where a 2-kilometer-long fossilized human skeleton surfaces after an earthquake. Lockdowns and restrictions ensue.

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.