Society of Snow is based on the harrowing true story of the Uruguayan flight crash that happened in 1972. The story follows a group of rugby players who were set to depart from Montevideo, Uruguay to Santiago, Chile, the pilots miscalculated the route, starting their descent thinking they had cleared the Andes. The plane crashed into a large mountain, tearing off the plane’s wings and tail, instantly killing 29 of the 45 passengers. The remaining survivors bore 72 days of the cold of the Andes mountains post-crash. The Netflix movie was made after the “Society of Snow” book written by Pablo Vierci, one of the survivors. This crash received a lot of news coverage, due to the extreme conditions the survivors endured, the unbearable temperatures, and lack of food which eventually led to cannibalism.
Although there have been several films based on the Uruguay tragedy, many survivors have expressed how none have truly captured the horrific nature of the crash as well as the extent of the conditions they underwent, until this movie. This film stands out in several ways, the actors had contact with survivors and their families to give the most authentic portrayal of the event—the movie, directed by J.A Bayona took 138 days of shooting, but the actors and set designers started prior with training and creating 3 different set designs for the movie.
The Spanish-language film included English subtitles and was shot in many places, including the Andes Mountains. The movie was so realistic that the director, JA Bayona, said that it felt like shooting a documentary. This fast-paced two-hour experience captures even the slightest of details, without making it hard to follow. The avalanche scene, in particular, is an excellent example of the film’s exceptional directing and acting. It was an intense moment that left survivors in disarray, the movie captured every second of suspense. The scene is sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone who watches.
This movie was a masterpiece in every aspect. It managed to invoke feelings of intense despair, terror, and disgust simultaneously. The scene in which survivors resorted to cannibalism was particularly striking, it did an impressive job of making the audience sympathize with the survivors’ unimaginable guilt and even makes us contemplate our moral compass. This brilliant film will leave viewers pondering, “How far would I go to survive?”
