Society of the Snow
Overview
Society of the Snow is a 2023 survival biographical drama film directed by J.A. Bayona, based on the 2009 book of the same name by Pablo Vierci. The film is a Spanish-language retelling of the 1972 Andes flight disaster, in which a Uruguayan rugby team's plane crashed in the Andes mountains, and the survivors were forced to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. The film is a more accurate and harrowing depiction of the disaster than the 1993 film Alive. The film follows the 29 survivors of Flight 571, who are stranded at an altitude of 3,570 meters (11,710 feet), in freezing temperatures, with no food, no shelter, and no hope of rescue. They listen to the radio, and they learn that the search has been called off. They are forced to eat the bodies of the dead. The film is a meditation on survival, faith, and the human spirit. The survivors are not heroes; they are ordinary men who are pushed to the absolute limit of human endurance. They are Catholic, and they struggle with the morality of cannibalism. They believe that their souls are damned, but they also believe that God wants them to live. The film ends with two survivors, Nando Parrado (Agustín Pardella) and Roberto Canessa (Matías Recalt), trekking across the mountains for 10 days to find help. They are rescued, and the other survivors are saved. Society of the Snow was a critical and commercial success, earning over $14 million on a $70 million budget. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best International Feature Film. The film is a powerful, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful film about the resilience of the human spirit.
