It’s a day like any other. A city is busily going about its business. Then suddenly, a driver of a car stuck in thick traffic realises that he’s just completely lost his vision. And so begins this intriguing and thoroughly unnerving film. As the day progresses, more and more people lose their sight. Before you know it, the Government issues a statement regarding what they call ‘the white sickness’ – so called because it’s the colour that its victims can see, instead of the more usual black associated with loss of vision.

As the government has no clue as to what’s causing this mass blindness, they quarantine the blind in an attempt to contain the possibility of an airborne infection. The quarantined are left to fend for themselves in an abandoned mental hospital, which soon adopts the disturbing persona of a prison. Before long a hierarchy built on fear and punishment is achieved by some of the more dominant members of the afflicted, and it soon becomes transparent to all that it’s a case of survival of the fittest.

Ok, one more game. I-spy with my whitey eye...

The downtrodden have one vital weapon with which to fight however – the wife (Julianne Moore) of a doctor who went blind (Mark Ruffalo) still has the ability to see. But is it enough to save them from the brutal anarchy that surrounds them? Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles uses the screen almost like a canvas as he plays around with washed-out colours, which he often mutes beautifully. He also moves the camera in ways to disorientate the audience to giddying effect.

He could have easily played the script out like a new wave zombie flick, but instead he goes out of his way to give his audience a real sense of what his characters are going through. This is achieved by keeping us, as well as his characters, in the dark in terms of how this sudden mass blindness happened.

Julianne Moore is particularly brave, as the Hollywood sheen of most A-listers is quickly wiped away, leaving her left with a raw look to match her emotions. There’s great support too by the rest of the cast - including a great turn by Danny Glover – as they fumble around in their sightless world; especially when you consider how easy it would have been to overact and come off like some over-hyped body popper.

At times the film can be quietly uncomfortable; Meirelles does an excellent job of guiding us through this disturbing, dark new world by the hand, without making us feel truly safe. To his credit, that’s quite a gift. Blindness is one of those intelligent films that come around oh so rarely. Do yourself a favour and just see it.