Is Eye of the Storm on Netflix based on a true story? We discuss the Taiwanese 2023 movie and whether it’s based on real events.
The Taiwanese drama Eye of the Storm has a terrifying premise at its heart. The story takes place at a hospital where a deadly virus breaks out, forcing the institute to lock down and trapping all the staff and patients in the building.
We see the frightening story through the eyes of Dr. Xia, who was called into the hospital to help in an emergency procedure on a patient and becomes trapped when the virus is released.
The film, set in 2003, explores the effect the incident has on staff, patients, and visitors quarantined in the building.
The film presents a bleak and chilling look at a viral outbreak that threatens the community, and it is hard not to watch the film without thinking about the events of the Covid pandemic; with that cultural phenomenon embedded in the public, the question we are here to answer today is, is Eye of the Storm on Netflix based on a true story?
What is the 2023 movie Eye of the Storm about?
A deadly outbreak of Sars at a hospital leads to the building being quarantined, essentially trapping everyone inside. Dr. Xia is called to the hospital for an emergency just before the virus breaks out and is trapped with everyone else in the building, with the authorities refusing to let anyone leave.
As staff fear for their own safety, they find they cannot even care for the patients trapped inside who desperately need help.
Teamed with a journalist on the inside, they must struggle to find out how this could have happened and try to save the lives of those trapped within.
Is Eye of the Storm on Netflix based on a true story?
Yes, shockingly, the film is based on true events. The real outbreak happened in 2003 at the Heping Hospital, which would eventually change its name to Heping Fuyou Branch of Taipei City Hospital. There really was a viral outbreak at the hospital, and the film portrays the event with alarming accuracy.
There were over a thousand people trapped in the hospital at the time of the outbreak. Panic would set in, and staff would place banners in the window desperately asking to be allowed to leave.
One staff member was stopped by colleagues from jumping from the building in an attempt to escape. It seems that at the time of the outbreak, the hospital was poorly prepared to cope with such an event.
Is Eye of the Storm on Netflix based on real people?
Although the events that are depicted in the film are real, the characters that we follow are not and were fictionalized creations to help deliver the story to viewers. The doctors who were involved in the real situation may have been templates for the characters that we see in the screenplay.
One doctor involved in the real-life situation was Yang Chi-Hsien, who stepped up to the plate to help infected patients when others refused as they were scared they would become infected.
It seems likely that Dr. Xia in the film may have been based on him.
