Blindness 2008

Here’s my rephrased version of the section:

In a city shrouded in anonymity, the morning rush-hour traffic comes to a standstill when a young Japanese professional (Yusuke Iseya) is suddenly and inexplicably struck blind. His car becomes an obstacle on the busy streets, sparking a cacophony of horns as fellow drivers struggle to navigate around him. As chaos erupts, a concerned bystander (Don McKellar) steps in to offer assistance, ferrying the blinded man back to his upscale apartment. But just as the Japanese man is assured that he’ll be fine waiting for his wife’s return, his rescuer makes off with the car keys and absconds with the vehicle.

Later that evening, the Japanese man’s wife (Yoshino Kimura) discovers her husband’s condition and rushes him to a local ophthalmologist (Mark Ruffalo), who is stumped by the sudden onset of blindness. Among his patients are an old man sporting a black eye-patch (Danny Glover), a mysterious woman shrouded in dark glasses (Alice Braga), and a young boy whose innocence has been lost (Mitchell Nye). Meanwhile, the car thief who had abandoned the Japanese man’s vehicle earlier that day finds himself afflicted with the same inexplicable blindness.

As night falls, the doctor and his loving wife (Julianne Moore) share a dinner table, discussing the strange case of sudden blindness that has beset the city. Unbeknownst to them, the woman in dark glasses - a call-girl by profession - becomes the third victim of the mysterious affliction after an appointment with a john at a luxury hotel.

The next morning, the doctor awakens to find himself among the blind, his panic exacerbated by the fear that he may have inadvertently infected his wife. But she refuses to be swayed by his warnings and insists on accompanying him into isolation when the government quarantines the afflicted in a local derelict asylum. As the Hazmat crew arrives to collect the doctor, his wife seizes the opportunity to join him, fabricating her own blindness to ensure their time together remains uninterrupted.

I hope this rephrased version meets your requirements!

As the doctor and his wife enter the asylum, they make a solemn pact to shield their own sightedness from prying eyes. The first arrivals are followed by a diverse group of individuals: a woman shrouded in darkness, a Japanese couple, a car thief, and a young boy, each with their own unique struggles. Initially, tensions simmer just below the surface, as the Japanese man and the car thief engage in a heated altercation, only to be interrupted by the doctor’s authoritative intervention. With his leadership established, the ward slowly begins to take shape.

Meanwhile, the Japanese woman is reunited with her husband, whose sudden blindness has left him devastated. Her own loss of sight is imminent, and she becomes catatonic as the reality sets in. The doctor’s wife, still blessed with vision, stumbles upon an elderly man with a makeshift eye patch, who paints a dire picture of the world outside. The “White Sickness”, a mysterious affliction that has spread like wildfire, has brought humanity to its knees. Governments, desperate and ineffective, resort to increasingly brutal measures in a last-ditch effort to contain the epidemic.

As more and more blind individuals are crammed into the decrepit asylum, the consequences of overcrowding and neglect become starkly apparent. The once-clean walls and floors now resemble a fetid wasteland, caked with filth and human waste. Anxiety over food distribution fuels tension among the inmates, as irregular deliveries create uncertainty and despair. Soldiers, tasked with guarding the asylum, grow increasingly hostile, while the government’s refusal to provide basic medicines ensures that even minor infections become deadly.

The arrival of a new batch of prisoners brings chaos, as one man wanders too far from the group and is brutally slaughtered by the soldiers, along with two others caught in the crossfire. In a callous display of disregard, a shovel is carelessly tossed over the wall, forcing the blind inmates to take on the gruesome task of burying their own dead. As the asylum descends further into chaos, it becomes clear that the struggle for survival will be nothing short of a desperate fight for life.

As the bleak reality of life within the crumbling walls of the asylum sets in, a ruthless cabal of men, led by an ex-barman who has elevated himself to the rank of self-proclaimed King of Ward 3 (Gael García Bernal), seizes control over the meager supplies of sustenance that trickle in. The allocation of these rations becomes a twisted game of humiliation, where desperate individuals must surrender their most precious possessions in exchange for scraps. Amidst the despair and desperation, the doctor’s vulnerabilities are exploited by the mysterious woman with dark glasses, leading to a moment of profound weakness and an act of intimacy that is swiftly followed by regret and recrimination.

The fallout from this moral transgression is compounded when the doctor’s wife reveals her knowledge of the tryst, leaving no doubt that she has witnessed the entire ordeal. While she may not regain her trust in her husband, she still finds it within herself to offer support and ultimately extends forgiveness to both her husband and the woman who had compromised his integrity.

However, this fleeting glimmer of hope is extinguished when the King of Ward 3 issues a demand that would reduce the already precarious lives of the women inmates to nothing short of slavery. One by one, they succumb to desperation and volunteer to be exploited in exchange for the meager sustenance, leaving them vulnerable to the whims of their tormentors.

The doctor’s wife is brutally ravished by the King, a brutal act that culminates in the murder of one of her fellow inmates at the hands of their rapist. Faced with the very real possibility of starvation and consumed by an all-consuming desire for retribution, the doctor’s wife snaps and exacts a bloody revenge upon the King using her trusty scissors.

The consequences of this act of violence are catastrophic, as it sets off a chain reaction of chaos that spreads throughout the asylum, ultimately culminating in its complete destruction. The inferno claims the lives of most of the inmates, leaving only a few scattered survivors to stumble out into the ruins and discover that the military has abandoned their posts. With the city lying before them, the remnants of humanity are finally free to forge their own destiny in a world that has been reduced to ashes.

As the desolate landscape unfolds, the once-thriving metropolis is now a squalid wasteland, replete with the stench of death and decay. The doctor’s wife, stalwart leader of this ragtag group, guides her husband, the Japanese couple, the elderly man, the enigmatic woman with dark sunglasses, and the young boy through the ruins, their quest for sustenance and clean attire a daunting task amidst the unrelenting devastation. Everywhere she gazes, the bleak reality of their world is starkly evident: people huddle in dilapidated structures, society’s fabric torn asunder by the very same calamity that has claimed her husband’s sight.

As they part ways with their friends at an old café, offering a fleeting respite from the chaos, the doctor and his wife venture out to scavenge for food. Within the confines of a supermarket overrun by stumbling, blind individuals, she stumbles upon a storeroom overflowing with provisions, carefully packing the bounty into bags before being attacked by the desperate throng who catch wind of her prize. Her husband, now attuned to his blindness, intervenes, saving her from harm and allowing them to reunite with their companions.

As they settle into a new home at the doctor’s residence, the couple’s bond has mended, the wife having forgiven her husband for his past transgressions with the woman in dark glasses. Their love rekindled, they share a tender moment, the husband confessing that when they are together, he can “see” her through touch – an intimate connection transcending even the most profound of physical handicaps.

Just as this makeshift family begins to adapt to their peculiar circumstances, the Japanese man regains his sight one morning, a development that sparks hope among the group that their own blindness may soon be lifted. As they rejoice, the doctor’s wife stands at the porch, lost in thought as she gazes upward at a dull overcast sky – only for the camera’s gaze to shift downward, revealing the desolate cityscape before her, a poignant reminder of the world they now inhabit.