Surviving Progress
First Run Features | Release Date: April 20, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
59
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMay 2, 2012
Surviving Progress is a bright, entertaining (!), coherent argument in favor of these principles I have simplified so briefly. It's self-evident and tells the truth. Read full review
80
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMay 25, 2012
With beautiful, artful images serving to break up the monotony of the film's wealth of talking heads, Surviving Progress is at times as visually striking as it is persuasive. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineKalvin HenelyApr 4, 2012
By turning the idea of progress on its head, the nimble Surviving Progress exquisitely presents to us the possibility that humankind's achievements may cause its downfall. Read full review
70
VarietyDennis HarveyApr 4, 2012
Progress does a remarkable job weaving together these and many other big ideas in a crisp, coherent, easy-to-take fashion that somehow never becomes an informational overload. Read full review
70
Village VoiceErnest HardyApr 4, 2012
The film trots out a who's who of great thinkers - Jane Goodall, Stephen Hawking, Margaret Atwood, assorted scientists and historians - who are riveting as they walk us through the question of whether we will or can survive progress. The anticapitalism prognosis is grim, and the hope offered is slim indeed. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJun 8, 2012
Surviving Progress reiterates arguments made in movies such as "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Inside Job," it marshals minds such as Jane Goodall and Stephen Hawking, and it utilizes artful imagery reminiscent of films such as "Koyaanisqatsi" and "Up the Yangtze." Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen ColeApr 4, 2012
Though often fascinating and beautiful to look at, Surviving Progress falls into the adapting-a-book-into-a-movie trap. Trying to do too much too fast. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanApr 15, 2012
The cumulative power of so many great minds envisioning our potential self-destruction is undeniable. You may start planning your move off the grid before the movie even ends. Read full review
60
NPRMark JenkinsApr 6, 2012
After nearly 90 minutes of human folly, though, Surviving Progress can't very well conclude with a tribute to mankind. So, to end on a hopeful note, the movie turns to a chimp. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyMay 17, 2012
More to the point, the title doubles as accusation. Progress is dangerous and requires survival tactics, just as a hurricane or avalanche does. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 20, 2012
The name of this documentary is Surviving Progress, but that's only because "The Sky Is Falling and We're All Gonna Die" wouldn't fit on a marquee. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckApr 8, 2012
As with many films of its ilk, Surviving Progress takes on more than it can comfortably handle, veering haphazardly from subject to subject. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 5, 2012
Like too many short documentaries, it can't do justice to its complex topic or finally to those of us watching. Because, while Surviving Progress puts forth a lot of general advice (stop the deforestation of the Amazon), it offers little in terms of real, practical, graspable solutions. People need hope; moviegoers do too. Read full review
40
Time OutAndrew SchenkerApr 4, 2012
Like the myriad dangers threatening the earth, the film is simply too unwieldy, a sprawling mass of ideas that are dutifully checked off and then given only superficial explanations in lieu of insightful explorations. Read full review
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