At the height of the AIDS epidemic in the late 80s and early 90s, members of the activist groups TAG (Treatment Action Group) and ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) took to the streets to challenge both lawmakers and pharmaceutical companies to make a swifter, surer, and more cost effective method to combat the deadly disease. How to Survive a Plague documents its subject very well thanks to substantial stock footage and an insider's viewpoint provided by key members of both groups who discuss not only the tactics, motivations, and solidarity which united them, but also the different modes of thinking and petty infighting which threatened to thwart the movement.
