How to Survive a Pandemic
Home Box Office (HBO) | Release Date (Streaming): March 29, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
VarietyGuy LodgeMar 24, 2022
Smart, humane and gripping even as it rakes over events all too fresh in our memories, How to Survive a Pandemic ends with plenty yet to be discussed and explored: It provides a road map to survival, but doesn’t suggest we’ve all made it just yet. Read full review
75
CNNBrian LowryMar 29, 2022
How to Survive a Pandemic is a poor title for a mostly fascinating documentary, whose flaws reflect its slightly fragmented nature. Yet at its core this HBO presentation captures the race to produce a vaccine amid political pressures imposed by a president preoccupied with his reelection, offering fly-on-the-wall access to many of the key players. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterAngie HanMar 31, 2022
While its ambition and immediacy occasionally lead to some uneven patches, its insight nevertheless makes it a worthy addition to the growing library of films grappling with what just happened. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMar 24, 2022
It’s a globe-trotting look at the worldwide response to COVID-19, with an emphasis on the unprecedented effort to get a safe, effective vaccine quickly into billions of people. Read full review
67
The Film StageRory O'ConnorMar 28, 2022
It’s compelling viewing, if a bit uneasy—not just for the flashbacks to those early COVID days of respiratory machines and people in HAZMAT suits, or the film’s second half, which covers the lack of egalitarianism in the vaccine rollout, and how those decisions ravaged non-Western countries and accelerated the rise in variants. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmMar 29, 2022
I doubt How to Survive a Pandemic will alter anyone’s opinion regarding the necessity of vaccines, yet it does pay admirable tribute to the scientists fighting to save the world, including those stubborn earthlings who have no interest in being saved. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDevika GirishMar 31, 2022
The message — that science cannot succeed without a politics of solidarity — is important, but the film ends on a note of uncertainty that feels defeatist rather than urgent. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 29, 2022
It’s as if the film itself is suffering from a pandemic hangover and can’t believe there’s a reason to feel better, even when describing one of the greatest scientific and manufacturing achievements in human history. Read full review
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