Society of the Snow Review - Tense Survival Drama Recreates True Story

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Category: Streaming, Cable

Published on Tuesday, 27 February 2024 12:42

Written by Janet Walker

Society of the Snow, from Netflix, brings to the screen a recreation of the fateful Flight 571 carrying a Uruguayan soccer team and their companions that crashed in the Andes Mountains enroute to Santiago, Chile in 1972.

The film begins with voice over, as the narrator begins to introduce the Uruguayan rugby team, and the talk turns to the upcoming holiday weekend, and the trip to Chile. Four days of glorious fun, women, and camaraderie. We see the hold out, Numa, played by Enzo Vogrincic, who explained no, he won't be going, he will be studying, with one semester left, his friend Pancho, played by Jeronimo Bosia, convinces him this is the last vacation the two will have before they are both bogged down with life.

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At the airport, the goodbyes were brief as it was only supposed to be a weekend, and before they boarded, they took a group photo. The flight began without incident, and as it was a chartered flight, the team was joking around and excited. We also find out that the Andes Mountains pose their own flight threat, and whether it was true or not, at the hint of turbulence everyone began switching seats, those who were in the tail section moved up, and then the seatbelt sign came on.

Suddenly the turbulence becomes more intense, and then uncontrollable, one of the younger players began joking around on the microphone and one of the chaperone, began to try to stop him, when the turbulence became so intense that he hit the ceiling of the plane, and as they plane struggled to make it over the mountain ridge, it misses, and the tail is sheared off.

The front of the plane lands on the other side of the ridge, slams into the frozen ground, the force of the crash sends the seats buckling into each other crushing the occupants. We find, as our narrator continues through voice over, the temperature in the Andes Mountains plummets at night, with wind chills creating a sure hypothermic death.

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Day one, the survivors begin to assess their situation, with two med students on board, they treat the wounded and remove the dead. They look for food from the suitcases and find barely enough to last a week for the 26 who initially survived the crash.

By week three, hunger was the only thought. The obvious and unfathomable alternative began to assert itself into the minds and conversations of the survivors, with the medical students explaining the rule of three, three minutes without oxygen, three days without water and three weeks without food. The only possible chance of survival were the dead.

Soon the medical students handled were hiding the task that aided the others survival. Slowly, they understood their predicament, and were making plans to find help. Sheltering within the hull, from the raging storm, the group begins to hear a deafening roar, and they are swallowed by an avalanche.

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Once again, they struggled against the odds, and dug their way out. Several more died. They found a radio and began to hear the reports that the search had been called off and would resume in the spring.

They realized their survival rested solely on their determination and drive to live.

Society of the Snow is a compelling recreation. A resonating, intense survival drama that tells the story of what many call a Christmas miracle, a rescue in the Andes Mountains, of a plane that had crashed three months before.

Forceful, with heightened suspense, and a riveting, white-knuckle, intensity. It is a must see.

Society of the Snow has been nominated for two Academy Awards, Best International Feature Film, and Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling. It has earned 65 nominations including ASCAP Film Score of the Year, BAFTA, and Critics Choices Awards. Society of the Snow has earned 38 wins.

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Country: Spain.

Language: English.

Runtime: 144 minutes.

Director: J.A. Bayona.

Producer: Belen Atienza, J.A. Bayona, Philip Bolus, Sandra Hermida.

Writer: Jamie Marques, Nicolas Casariego based on the book by Pablo Vierci.

Cast: Enzo Vogrincic, Agustin Pardella, Matias Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Vegezzi, Fernando Contingiani, Esteban Kukuriczka,, Francisco Romero, Rafael Federman, Valentino Alonso, Tomas Wolf, Blas Polidori, Felipe Ramusio, Simon Hempe, Luciano Chatton, Rocco Posca, Paula Baldini, Emanuel Parga, Juan Caruso, Benjamin Segura, Jeronimo Bosia.