Society of the Snow is a streaming Spanish film on Netflix directed by J.A. Bayona. Society of the Snow tells the true story of 16 members of a Uruguayan rugby team and how they endured some of the most horrific conditions for 72 days due to a plane crash. There have been past attempts to portray this 1972 plane wreckage, such as the film Alive; however, Society of the Snow is meant to draw the experiences of the survivors from a less horrific point of view, focusing more on friendship, humility, and generosity.
For a rugby match, 45 people rented a plane to transport players from Montevideo, Uruguay, with their friends and family to Santiago, Chile. There was a pre-planned course that would allow the aircraft to make it through the Andes; however, the pilot faced difficulties with the course, causing the plane to descend before it could make it out of the Andes. The aircraft struck a mountain, which made it lose its wings and tail; then, the plane slid down the mountain and landed in a valley at approximately 11,500 ft. Roberto Canessa, a survivor of the plane crash, tells TIME, “When the plane lost the wings and tail, it began to slide at an incredible speed. I thought my feet were going to go through the back of my ears. So when it stopped, I couldn’t believe I was alive. It was absurd.”
The crash led to 12 deaths, leaving 35 surviving passengers injured. The first night, five people died; praying they would be rescued, the survivors dealt with extremely low temperatures and consumed whatever food and drinks they could find in their luggage, which was gone after a week. Starvation began to set in, forcing the survivors to resort to cannibalism to stay alive. Canessa tells TIME that he presented the idea of going out and cutting off a piece of a body while still respecting the opinions of others. He explained his thought process and how he questioned himself for eating a dead person, especially if they were his friend. However, he said he thought of mothers and their cries when they lose their sons and how he didn’t want his mom to endure that; therefore, he had a reason to do something, and if he had a reason to keep going, nothing would stop him.
Bayona did a great job portraying the story in a more human aspect by emphasizing the friendship and relationships between all the people on the plane until each of them works together to try to survive. Various scenes in the film showcased the men laughing together, reciting original poetry, and times when they could cry together. The vulnerability, humility, and support that each of the men show towards each other shows how friendships and relationships are the things that keep each other going. Society of the Snow did a great job highlighting how vital humor was. For example, Canessa says, “Sense of humor is very important in life. It’s important to laugh at your own condition. That makes you keep going. So if you had something nice to say you would say it and if you had something sad to say, you would keep it to yourself. We always worked together to try to raise spirits. ” Towards the end of the movie, when showcasing the 10-day brutal Journey that two men went on to reach civilization in Chile, a dove deep into the brutality that two men had to endure together and how they became like one person. This further beautifully expresses the significance of relationships and friendships showcased in this movie.
