5. A film based on a true story: Society of the Snow (La sociedad de la nieve) (2023)

List Progress: 5/12

On October 13th, 1972, an airplane carrying 45 people from Uruguay to Chile crashed in the Andes Mountains. On December 22nd and 23rd, a total of 16 survivors were rescued, who had survived grave injuries, brutal conditions, and extreme malnourishment over their 72 days of hell. Society of the Snow (La sociedad de la nieve in the original Spanish) is the most recent adaptation of their story to film, coming out in 2023, and follows two previous feature films, several documentaries, and even a few stage plays and podcasts. This story of human endurance has captured the public imagination since the moment it happened, and this film captures it with sensitivity, care, and a harrowing artistry.

The film is narrated by one of the passengers, Numa Turcatti, who joined the trip along with a friend to take a vacation before going back to law school. The majority of the passengers were a single rugby team traveling for a match, and then friends and family who joined the trip in spare seats, so almost none of the people involved were strangers. When twelve people die in the initial crash, the movie remembers that this is more than an action set-piece (even though it accels as that), this is a moment of people watching their loved ones die in front of them. Another five freeze to death or succumb to their injuries in the first night, and each of their names and ages are displayed on the screen to mark their passing. So many survival thrillers give the unspoken impression that those who make it out of disasters are somehow morally superior. Whereas in this film, one of the most incisive lines in this film is from someone dying from an infected wound: “I’m not giving up. I’m dying.” The 16 who survived are no more worthy than the 29 who died; a lot of will and strength helped them get through, but also a lot of luck.

One of the most salacious parts of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 story from the beginning was the question of cannibalism. People across the globe were desperate to know whether these young men had consumed human flesh to survive, and they eventually were forced to publicly confirm that all of the survivors had eaten the bodies of the deceased. The movie does a good job of balancing the gravity of the situation while avoiding sensationalizing the act. Every person aboard the craft was Roman Catholic, so they do a lot of literal soul-searching before taking this desperate step. The camera does not linger on the gore; it knows that the more important shot is the faces of the survivors.

Society of the Snow is harrowing, and some might find it overly long at almost two and a half hours. But every minute of that is needed and keeps you entirely engaged. This is a masterclass of a biopic and very worth the time.

Would I Recommend It: Enthusiastically so.