By Alison Echeverria-Soto ’26
Like many films based on true events, “Society of the Snow” is full of emotion and intense scenes, but this film is different from any other. On Oct. 13, 1972, Uruguayan Air Force flight 571 crashed in the Andes Mountains in Argentina. This film tells that story. Of the 45 people on board, only 16 managed to survive over 72 days. They were dealing with extreme cold, starvation and dehydration. Eventually, they resorted to cannibalism.
The movie was released on Dec. 22, 2023, and directed by J.A Bayona. It lasts two hours and 24 minutes. “Radio Times Magazine” states how the Director Bayona said, “This might just be the most accurate retelling yet of the Andes disaster.” His process included interviewing the survivors for many hours to get the exact information to make the movie realistic. Featured actors Enzo Vogrincic, Matias Recalt, Agustin Parrado, Esteban Kukuriczka, Tomas Wolf, Diego Vegezzi, Francisco Romero, and Rafael Federman made the movie even more realistic with their acting skills. The director found look-alikes for their characters as well as had the actors losing weight throughout the movie.
When you watch the film you may feel disturbed, depressed, thrilled, and even anxious as it shows how difficult it was to survive in -22 degrees weather without food, eating their loved ones and friends to survive the extreme conditions until being found. Zulay Soto, my mother, watched the film with me and stated, “I felt anxious and nervous seeing them struggle to survive.” Many feelings may be felt during this amazing film.
It won the Goya Award for Best Film in 2024 and won many more awards after that. This movie gives awareness and respect to each person who survived, as well as also showing respect to every person who died during the crash, leaving nobody behind.
“Society of the Snow” had a very realistic set while filming. Netflix states, “The exterior shots of the Andes mountains were filmed in the Valley of Tears in Argentina, at the site of the crash. The rest of the film was shot within Sierra Nevada Ski Station in Granada, Spain.”
After watching this movie, I realized how sad it was for the survivors to be trapped there for 72 days, realizing their story must be heard in some way. Many people have made assumptions about the tragedy before the movie came out, never knowing the full story. The survivors appreciated this movie and even felt they were back in the plane, trapped. In all, this movie was a masterpiece as well as a true depiction of what really happened. I highly recommend it to anyone.
The Raider Press 