Cordon

A cordon seals off a section of Antwerp when a deadly virus threatens the city. People are left to their own devices which brings out the best but also the worst.

Cordon (2014-2016) is a Belgian television thriller series created for VTM, a Flemish drama set in a present-day Antwerp sealed off by a cordon after a deadly virus breaks out. Across two seasons and twenty forty-minute episodes, the story follows a group of residents including Toon (Steve Geerts), Suzy (Greet Verstraete), Jokke Deelen (Wouter Hendrickx) and Katja (Veerle Baetens) as they navigate scarcity, fear and shifting loyalties inside the quarantined city. The engine of the show is practical survival: who gets food, who gets out, and who turns on whom when authorities are absent and rumors spread faster than the disease. Each episode tracks several households at once, so the drama moves between small domestic crises and wider collapse. Its tone is tense and claustrophobic, with moments of raw grief and sudden violence sitting beside quieter acts of kindness. Fans of Contagion, The Walking Dead and The Night Of will find resonance in its grounded dread and its interest in how ordinary people behave when the rules disappear. Its Flemish production gives it a distinct European perspective on epidemic panic.

• Contagionshared quarantine dread, city under siege, social breakdown tone
• The Walking Deadserialized apocalyptic survival, ensemble of strangers, bleak civic collapse
• The Night Ofcontained urban crisis, moral pressure on ordinary people, serialized thriller

Release Date

2014-03-10

Episode runtime

40 min

Rating

7.3 / 10 (23)

What is Cordon about?

When a deadly virus forces authorities to seal off Antwerp, residents must decide how far they will go to survive.

What is Cordon like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Cordon as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is Cordon violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Cordon as moderate.

Which shows are like Cordon?

Shows with a similar feel include Contagion, The Walking Dead, and The Night Of.

How long is Cordon?

Cordon: 2 seasons, 20 episodes.

Is Cordon still running?

No, Cordon has ended.