Society of the Snow

This well-known story of the air crash in the snow-covered Andes whose survivors had to resort to cannibalism had already been told in the 1993 American film Alive. In comparison with that film, Bayona offers a more modern take with top-quality filmmaking (including excellent camerawork and an intense scene involving the crash itself). In addition to that, he returns this story about the power of the human will and tenacity to the Spanish-speaking realm. But that’s basically all there is to it, because the film naturally doesn’t have much to surprise us with in terms of plot. With few exceptions, the individual characters are interchangeable and their agonisingly bad fortune serves mainly to make an emotional impact on viewers. However, the film is likable in that it is a truly honest and thoroughly realistic survival drama that is unburdened by the necessity of cramming the plot with personal conflicts between the characters, who can thus focus more on the practical side of their own survival. The low degree of pathos and the very subtle and humane approach to the issue of eating human flesh are also pleasing. (10/09/2023)

A powerful, naturalistic and rigorously presented story. An interesting story from a factual point of view and, strangely enough, from a filmmaking point of view as well, as the creators do not shy away from depicting many harsh scenes and great shots of the snowy Andean environment, as well as a dose of suspense while wandering through the mountains and an equally emotional aspect that, especially in the end, makes the audience reflect on the whole event. A superb disaster movie that is good on many levels and that brings the audience closer to an event they probably had no idea about. (02/07/2024)

Bayona was the perfect choice for this kind of story. Even though there’s already a similar film out there and it doesn’t bring much new to the table, Society of the Snow is a blast. After The Impossible, Bayona proves once again that he knows how to handle large-scale disaster scenes. Absolutely intense! (02/05/2024)

The book is subtitled “The Definitive Account of the World’s Greatest Survival Story,” and “definitive” is exactly the word I’d use for its film adaptation. It’s a good thing this movie came from a Spanish-Uruguayan co-production, with Bayona being the perfect director for this project. With his name attached, you already have a sense of what to expect. Society of the Snow is a masterfully crafted, chilling survival film that grips you and evokes deep empathy for characters thrust into unbelievably harsh circumstances. The film's pinnacle is the meticulously shot plane crash, whose intensity and discomfort will rattle your nerves — the sound of breaking bones still echoes in my ears. Another standout is the avalanche sequence, where the omnipresent despair and hopelessness are palpable. The story of the survivors stranded in the heart of the Andes is timeless and universal, posing essential questions that most of us are fortunate to ponder only hypothetically: What would you do to survive? Anything! (10/09/2023)

These 140 minutes flow like water. J.A. Bayona is a master of his craft and genre rules, and here he has a powerful true story to work with. He doesn’t linger in the prologue or on the airborne plane, instead throwing his characters into the snowbound hell as quickly as possible. The mutual confessions of feelings in a desperate situation are effective, and the rising body count adds to the drama. The cannibalism is presented subtly and is shocking mainly in how long the story’s protagonists had to rely on it to survive. And how they got used to it. Good actors and an impressive ending of a film with ideas between the lines. My only criticism involves the work with orientation in the editing of some of the shots observing the mountainous landscape around the plane. (01/07/2024)