How to Survive a Plague
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Metascore
88 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 18 Critics What's this?

User Score
9.8 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 8 Ratings

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0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Bob Rafsky, Iris Long, Larry Kramer, Peter Staley
  • Summary: How To Survive A Plague is the untold story of the efforts that turned AIDS into a mostly manageable condition – and the improbable group of young men and women who, with no scientific training, infiltrated government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, and helped identify promising new compounds, moving them through trials and into drugstores in record time. These drugs saved their lives and ended the darkest days of the epidemic, while virtually emptying AIDS wards in American hospitals. (IFC Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    Sep 27, 2012
    100
    We're now far enough from that era that seeing it all again feels like a slap to the face in the same way that watching certain moments in the civil rights epic "Eyes on the Prize" chills your bones. This doesn't have that series' stately magnitude. It's smaller and crasser, but it's comparatively galvanic.
  2. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Amy Biancolli
    Sep 20, 2012
    100
    When it's over, this documentary lingers as a testament to extraordinary human bravery. It stands as one of the most heartbreaking and suspenseful sagas of the year.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    Oct 11, 2012
    50
    Scrappy and unsubtle where "We Were Here" is elegant and nuanced, How to Survive a Plague isn't nearly as formally beautiful as its predecessor.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. J_Lloyd
    10
    Truly inspiring story of the early struggles and eventual success of the AIDS treatment movement. Documenting the early NYC days of the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s, this film shows never before seen found footage of AIDS patients and activists struggling to convince others the importance of finding a cure. Admittedly, I expected a depressing and slow documentary. What I found was truly moving and remarkably fascinating.… Expand
  2. LamontRaymond
    8
    A truly powerful film about a group of individuals who, through force of will and against the threat of imminent death, moved big Pharma, federal, state, and local governments and society at large into action to develop drugs which would save many of their lives. I would have given the film a higher score had it been a bit more even-handed politically. I don't blame the individuals in the film for lashing out at Reagan & Bush the elder. They were in power - the buck stopped with them. Other than a brief sequence, the film gives Clinton a pass. And the film completely ignores what George W. Bush did for AIDS treatment in Africa - that is, more than any other world leader had ever done. Had it at least made this acknowledgement, it would have been a near-perfect doc. (All the shots of George HW Bush golfing? Far too partisan without the shots of Clinton at all the Arkansas basketball games, etc.)… Expand

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