The twenty-first century has witnessed the rise and spread of many life-threatening ailments around the world. The 2009 H1N1 flu killed more than 284,000 people worldwide and the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo killed more than 2,000 people between 2018 and 2020. More recently, the spread of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused tremendous disruptions to our lives and infected over 423 million people. The Pan American Health Organization also reports that five hundred million people in the Americas reside in areas with a high risk of contracting the mosquito-borne illness, Zika virus.¹ Unseen Enemy, a documentary film by Emmy Award-winning director Janet Tobias, explores the growing threat of such global pandemics and examines the cause of outbreaks and pandemics in the twenty-first century. 

The following critical analysis of Unseen Enemy will carefully assess and deconstruct the thesis of the documentary, while analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. The documentary’s strengths lie in its reasoning behind the rapid spread of diseases, successful depiction of the magnitude of outbreaks, and identification of public distrust of  the government. However, while the film incorporates expert analysis from medical practitioners, pathogen hunters, and researchers, it lacks meaningful and realistic solutions beyond preparedness and taking preventive measures against future pandemics, especially for less economically-developed countries that are deprived of proper medical infrastructure. A plausible solution to address these economic differences is to strive for coordinated global health policies that account for poverty and disparity in dealing with pandemics. 

Unseen Enemy takes a nuanced approach in addressing the impacts of different types of viruses from the perspective of health care workers, epidemiologists, and most importantly, average people. The documentary defines pathogens and their impact and critically evaluates the causes for the spread of viruses. Unseen Enemy argues that growing populations, urbanization, encroachment of new territories, climate change, civil conflict, lack of infrastructure, and specifically, globalization are possible causes of full-blown pandemics.  

The vital purpose of a documentary like Unseen Enemy is to inform the audience about the gravity of pandemics and to spark public discussion as a fundamental instrument to instill pressure on governments to act. Unseen Enemy makes  a conscious attempt to accomplish both tasks. For example, the film highlights the widespread reach of pandemics by narrating and presenting stories from various countries, including Liberia, Brazil, China, and the United States of America. The film reminds us that we, as responsible citizens, must not disregard the severity of outbreaks even if they are distant from us because viruses spread beyond their origin faster than we realize.Liberian doctor Soka Moses accurately declares that “until the entire world is safe [from viruses], nowhere is safe.”² The film reiterates the importance of global coordination in health policies and vaccination requirements to combat viruses effectively. This aspect of the film shows that while governments should take independent measures to restrain the spread of viruses locally, global coordination in governance is required to prevent epidemics from becoming pandemics, and eventually endemics.³

The documentary’s mention of decreasing trust between people and their government  encourages the public to question national public health policies. Having said this, some of the greatest strengths of this documentary are that by its very nature, it points out the flaws of public health policies and emphasizes that engagement is vital for public health to effectively work, while stressing the urgency of the issue. The film’s emphasis on the interdependence between the public and the government increases the audience’s understanding of how dealing with a pandemic is a two-way street. Individuals must take the initiative and adopt adequate measures to contain the spread of disease, rather than solely relying on collective action. Furthermore, the public has the power to call for change in governance and alter public opinion. Identifying a problem is key to taking active steps towards solving it, and the director accomplishes the job by explicitly stating, “public health is paying a price at every level of erosion of trust.”⁴

However, while the documentary neatly illustrates the story of pandemics, it falls short in delivering a convincing and rational claim on dealing with them.. The underlying message of the documentary is that prevention is far more affordable than treatment, imploring society to take measures to act cohesively to restrain the prevalence of new pandemics.⁵ Although the message offers hope and optimism, it is idealistic. It is naïve to assume that we can prevent future pandemics through early identification of strains of viruses, precision in prognosis and diagnosis, and immediate action.⁶ Factors such as the early identification of viruses are complicated and time-sensitive. For example, a closer analysis of Ebola reveals that it is like malaria as it comes from mosquitos, while also being like HIV as it is sexually transmitted.⁷ Having similar symptoms as other pre-occurring diseases makes identification difficult due to limited differentiating factors.⁸ Therefore, focusing on prevention as the key mechanism to limit the adverse effects of pandemics on society is challenging. Essentially, it raises the question, what precautionary measures do we employ if we are unaware of what the future holds? 

To contextualize, if prevention is key, why were  epidemiologists unable to prevent the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2? Especially considering that it had the same virus strain and similar symptoms and incubation time as SARS-CoV-1 did in 2002.⁹ Modern technology has evolved; there are new and improved prevention mechanisms in place. However, the spread of SARS-CoV-2 still could not be contained. We have had other pandemics to learn from, so why were we unsuccessful in preventing the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2? Fundamentally, the argument is utopian in nature. In hindsight, it is easy to state that prevention is vital, but considering the development of SARS-CoV-2 and the discovery of new variants of the virus, we can understand why there is a lack of improvement in dealing with the pandemic. According to Business Insider, the discovery of the new Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 may be attributed to vaccine inequality in developing countries.¹⁰ Inequitable distribution of vaccines indicates a more significant economic disparity in the world and its impact on response to viruses, showing that before relying on early detection, we must ensure that access to vaccines and other health care equipment is equally distributed amongst developing and developed nations. 

Moreover, bearing in mind the level of medical infrastructure, economic potential, and human capital in developing countries, is it possible to contain viruses by taking precautionary measures and being prepared for future outbreaks? Dr. Soka Moses states that the health system in Liberia could be more comprehensive than what it is and that Liberia would have done a better job dealing with Ebola if it had adequate infrastructure.¹¹ Preparation is a concept that caters to developed countries with better technologies to detect viruses early on, and thus cannot be put into practice in developing countries. The developing world is not economically equipped to handle the rapidly changing conditions; and pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities are being exacerbated. 

Another weakness of the film is that it does not offer concrete solutions and  provides ambiguous answers to handling pandemics without any call to action. For example, Laurie Garret, a Senior Fellow for the Global Health Council on Foreign Relations, highlights that “every outbreak becomes very political” and that the public needs to be engaged in society for “public health” to be effective.¹² Garret points to a growing mistrust between the government and its people. From the audience’s perspective, a statement supported by solutions would call for a better argument, specifically a greater emphasis on what can be done to mend relations between the government and its people. The director explicitly conveyed the message that governments need to be prepared to tackle pandemics; however, such a solution is obvious and idealistic. Additionally, the Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Professor Piot, shared that, “We live in an ever more globalized world where we are all connected, so there's a much greater risk that familiar diseases will spread quickly and mutate, and others will emerge, often jumping from animals to humans.”¹³ This observation points to the dire impact of globalization on the spread of diseases. However, the documentary does not provide a tangible solution to combat the effects of globalization. This raises the crucial question of why the documentary provides such vague and ambiguous solutions. The lack of proper solutions takes a toll on the credibility of the film and leaves the audience in a “cliff-hanger” situation. Perhaps the absence of solutions can be attributed to the broad nature of the issue at hand, and the various nuances that need to be factored in. 

The informative and well-meaning documentary Unseen Enemy ably tackles the important issue of pandemics and their impact on the social fabric. However, it fails to recognize the complexities of the developing world and resists providing viable solutions for ensuring public health and wellness. Pandemics have been rooted in history, even before we had airplanes or trains to travel. Viruses are not constrained by geographical borders; thus, responding to them requires global coordination through equitable policies. Current global health policies are insufficient for dealing with pandemics, as is evident with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Furthermore, economic and social disparities should also be considered  when coordinating authoritative global health policies to prevent developing countries from suffering disproportionately. By demonstrating the importance of proper vaccination and research facilities, the documentary shows that all-encompassing global health policies are vital for preventing epidemics from becoming pandemics and are necessary for maintaining global security.∇

Tuneesha Roy is a first-year undergraduate student interested in pursuing a major in International Relations and Health Studies. Her academic interests are widespread, ranging from management to health studies.

1. Liz Krieger, “Unseen Enemy: The New Film That Looks at Why Viruses like Zika, Ebola and Influenza Are so Prevalent,” Content Lab U.S. (Johnson & Johnson, April 5th, 2017). https://www.jnj.com/latest-news/unseen-enemy-film-looks-at-why-zika-ebola-and-influenza-are-so-prevalent.
2. Unseen Enemy, directed by Janet Tobias (Cinephil, 2017). https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/unseen-enemy.
3. An epidemic is a contained spread of a disease, whereas a pandemic is widespread in nature. An endemic is the regular prevalence of a disease in a region.
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9. Zhonglan Wu, David Harrich, Zhongyang Li, Dongsheng Hu, and Dongsheng Li, “The Unique Features of SARS‐CoV‐2 Transmission: Comparison with SARS‐CoV, MERS‐CoV and 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Influenza Virus," Reviews in Medical Virology 31 (2): e2171–n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/rmv.2171.
10. Sinéad Baker, "Rise of a New Coronavirus Variant in Africa Looks like the Disaster Scenario Experts Warned of If Rich Nations Hoarded Vaccines for Themselves," Business Insider, Nov. 26, 2021. https://www.businessinsider.com/new-coronavirus-variant-may-be-result-of-vaccine-inequality-2021-11.
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