Social of the Snow

Starring: Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Vegezzi, Fernando Contingiani, Esteban Kukuriczka, Francisco Romero, Rafael Federman, Agustín Della Corte, Andy Pruss, Blas Polidori, Simon Hempe
Directed by: J.A. Bayona
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Adventure, Thriller
2023

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A flight carrying a Uruguayan rugby team crashes in the desolate Andes mountains. The survivors fight to survive, despite rescuers giving up the search until the spring.

Review:

Tim: The incredible true story of the plane crash survivors in the Andes isn't exactly new- the event itself took place in 1972, and Frank Marshall already directed a very good adaptation, 1993's Alive. So, maybe there was some question about whether we needed another version. Director J.A. Bayona answers that question with a definitive, "Yes". I do believe that the quality of these two movies is SO close, but I'd likely barely give the edge to this film. The biggest difference is that this film feels significantly more authentic than Alive- the cast isn't populated with American actors. This Spanish production gets more details more right and feels much more authentic.

The biggest thing to hit is that this movie is wildly entertaining. I complained in my review of Alive that the film was a bit too long. This film is even longer (2 hours, 24 minutes), yet feels appropriate. There's a lot of story to tell and Bayona does a fantastic job of crafting a spell-binding tale. We see the plane crash, the immediate death and early attempts at survival. We see the reality of the situation set in, as day follows day with increasingly less hope of rescue. We see the challenges of attempting to survive in such a desolate environment. We see heroics and we see failure. We see these characters come together, collaborate to survive. We see the elements' uncaring onslaught, as storms, avalanches, deadly cold envelope these fragile humans. There was absolutely no way any of these characters could survive- and yet, some did. This is a beautiful and horrible story of human survival and it's mesmerizing to watch it all unfold.

The cast was quite impressive. Bayona purposely chose mostly unknown actors- some of it is my American blinders, but I knew no one in the cast. I walked away immensely impressed with many of them. Enzo Vogrincic carries much of the movie and we do identify with and care about him. He's involved in several of the better sequences throughout the film. Agustin Pardella had some terrific moments and communicates a lot with his eyes. Blas Polidori and Simon Hempe had great moments, too. Really, the whole cast give strong performances. I did find it hard at times to identify the different characters- they're all dirty, emaciated, bundled up. Sometimes this happens in war movies, too- when everyone wears the same outfit, it can be difficult to differentiate each character. I struggled a little and wish each character got a bit more time to develop. Still, it's a minor complaint and the cast as a whole works wonderfully well.

The visuals were superb. The cinematography was beautiful and the filmmakers really put us into the midst of the storm to watch this movie. The whiteness of the surroundings, the crashed plane- it all feels so vividly alive when we watch. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards- Best Makeup and Hairstyling is one, and it feels worthy of that distinction. The work to make these characters believable, especially as their ordeal stretches into months was quite impressive. We're stunned by how much the characters change, and their shriveled bodies near the end. Bayona tackles all aspects of this film with strict attention to detail.

The other nomination was for Best International Feature, and it feels like it would have been a worthy champ. I'm behind on watching the other nominees, as well as the winner, so I can't comment on the overall decision. But, I absolutely believe this film was good enough to be included.

I really appreciated how the film handled the sequences of the survivors needing to eat those who perished. It's easy to boil a miraculous story down to a "cannibalism" movie, but that's not accurate or appropriate for this film. It's not a movie about humans forced to eat human flesh to survive. This is a beautiful story of human endurance and faith, persisting despite all odds. The fact that these people needed to eat other humans to survive is one aspect of a much bigger story. This film never shies away from that fact, but it's not the overt focus of the film, either. I thought it handled it perfectly- not dismissing it, but also not obsessing about it. There was so much involved in their survival and eating their friends' bodies was only one aspect of how they were able to survive.

I thoroughly enjoyed Society of the Snow. Even though I'd seen this story depicted in film before, it still felt fresh, exciting, and worthy of our time. I cared about the characters and was always interested in their plight. I'm not sure Bayona quite builds enough connection between characters and audience to maximize the emotions, though. This is a film that hits hard mentally, but can't quite pierce our hearts. As characters died, I rarely felt a deep stirring of emotion. For this to be a "great" film, it needed a bigger emotional impact. However, that doesn't take away how effective the movie is. This Spanish production was nominated for 2 Academy Awards and it proved another winner for Netflix. I'm a big fan of this film and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Alive, Ravenous, The Mountain Between Us, The Grey