64
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75CNNBrian LowryCNNBrian LowryHow 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.
- 70Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleIt’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.
- 67The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorIt’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.
- 63RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmRogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmI 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.
- 60The New York TimesDevika GirishThe New York TimesDevika GirishThe 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.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleIt’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.