How to Survive a Plague

2012 • 109 minutes

About this movie

Oscar nominated for Best Documentary! "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.

Ratings and reviews

Excellent documentary on the crisis of AIDS in the 1980s and the lack of government response. The group in focus, Act Up, ended up making significant changes to US, state, and local policies to handle epidemics in clinical trials, testing, prevention, and research methodologies that have benefited responses to many other diseases. You'll even see cameos of a very young, 30-something Dr. Anthony Fauci that has been heading up the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Insightful and inspiring. Documentaries like this that show suffering of everyday people and their efforts in collaborating toward a common goal with our government and its branches could easily play a more central role in education.

They keep asking me to rate it. It's not on my account. I don't remember seeing it. I rated it, because the trailer looks good, smh.