Rating: Overflowing

Genre: Survival, Drama, Adventure, Biopic

Studios: Netflix/Mision de Audaces films/El Arriero Films

Cast: Enzo Vogrincic, Matias Recalt, Agustin Pardella, Felipe Gonzalez Otano, Luciano Chatton, Valentino Alonso, Francisco Romero, Agustin Berruti, Andy pruss, Simon Hempe, Juan Caruso, Esteban Bigliardi, Rocco Posca, Esteban Kukuriczka, Rafael Federman, Manuela Olivera, Agustin Della Corte and Tomas Wolf

Director: J. A. Bayona

Writers: J. A. Bayona, Nicolas Casariego, Jaime Marques and Bernat Vilaplana

Based on: the true events

Producers: Belen Atienza, J. A. Bayona and Sandra Hermida

Music by: Michael Giacchino

Rated: R for violent/disturbing material and brief graphic nudity

Release Date: 01/04/24

Runtime: 2h 24m

Tagline: N/A

Favorite Character: Numa Turcatti

Quote: “We huddle together the best we can. Living and dead, as one.”- Numa Turcatti

Fun Facts: There are already several films about the Andes crash site.

Tourists can actually visit the crash site.

It was submitted for the Best International film at the Oscars, and it has been nominated!

The film was shot in chronical order.

The Review: I did see a couple of J. A. Bayona’s films (The Impossible with the young Tom Holland, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) and given that he’s a Spanish filmmaker, why wouldn’t he do a movie in Spanish. The tale was spoken in Spanish by actual South American actors, making this survival tale more accurate, unlike the 1993’s ‘Alive’ (which i never heard of before) when the cast doesn’t look as believable as Society of the Snow.

Now getting on with the story, In case you haven’t heard, Society of the Snow is a true story about a Uruguayan Rugby team who is on their way to Chile for a Rugby match. Rather than taking a commercial plane, they took a FH-227 to Santiago which holds 45 people, but 10 minutes into the film, the audience knew exactly where this is gonna go. And it’s into the Andes… in the middle of nowhere! The crash landing really went for the rough landing, which is what was supposed to be. The shaky camera really helped give the movie watchers such a shaky feeling. Once the plane crash sequence was finished, you might need to take a second to catch your breath!

You probably know this but by the end, only 16 people survive. If you do know the number while watching this, your insanity would be put to the test! Being in the mountains, with hardly any food, have only a broken down plane for shelter and no way to contact anybody for help doesn’t sound all that pleasant. That is what makes this story so incredible, was being stuck in the middle of nowhere with minimal supplies. But I do have to let you know, getting attached to the characters can be a bit risky.

What’s so infamous about this whole incident is when the survivors are forced to go to do the unthinkable, cannibalism but luckily, it’s only off the ones who already deceased. Luckily, Bayona has attempted to keep the cannibalism imagery to the minimal by shooting it from one of the survivors perspective, otherwise, we may have a controversial moments from audience when they throw up. Actually, the cannibalism was already controversial when everyone was outraged about their actions in the mountains, but i think it’s a great idea to leave the aftermath out of this biopic otherwise, it would take away what makes this film so extraordinary.

To make a long story short, Society of the Snow is probably, without a doubt, the best survival movie of the decade so far. And it’s all thanks to Bayona’s fantastic direction for making this a powerful and unforgettable experience. (And congrats on the film getting a nomination for the International films category at the Oscars! I hope it wins!)