Between the premise and the lively score, “Survive” is decent enough B-movie background noise that closely mirrors “Dante’s Peak” until something truly remarkable occurs...

This directorial pep, along with invested performances across the board, allows Survive to build a sense of family vulnerabilities that is rawer than the standard cheap audience-identification tactics usually used in blockbuster disaster movies.

Pick a tone, Survive! Its push-pull between plausible terror and outright silliness is about equal, for better or worse.

Being a low-budget film, Frédéric Jardin...had to resort to his imagination, for lack of resources. And it must be said that he responded well to that requirement. [Full review in Spanish]