Society of the Snow 2024 Movie Review
Jurassic World 5 fame J. A. Bayona brings a mind-shackling true story of the Uruguayan 1972 Andes flight disaster with “Society Of The Snow”. The film is an adaptation of Pablo Vierci’s book of the same name, which tells the story of all 16 survivors of the crash. Vierci knew some of them from childhood. Bayona has himself written the screenplay along with Bernat Vilaplana, Jaime Marques, and Nicolás Casariego, and they all have done a fabulous job keeping the story realistic and non-melodramatic. It’s a fantastic story to hear and read, but watching it on the screen is an extra-elevating experience. You just need to keep the ACs off, or else you’ll be frozen not just physically but mentally as well. This is a realistic survival thriller in its finest form of storytelling. The slow pace doesn’t really take much away from it except for the repeat viewing.
Society of the Snow is set in 1972. An Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, chartered to fly a rugby team to Chile, catastrophically crashes on a glacier in the heart of the Andes. The accident was sudden and shocking for all 45 passengers. They all try to stay alive against unbeatable odds such as food, water, oxygen, and snow storms. They don’t have a safe place to live and sleep. They don’t have enough food, but somehow they eat meat that’s not well preserved. During this struggle of over 2 months, 29 of the 45 passengers who have survived the crash find themselves in one of the world’s toughest environments. Will they be saved? Of course, you know the answer; we all know the answer, but you still gotto experience it in the movie.
Society Of The Snow is a terrific human story and extremely inspiring, too. What you learn from the group is how to stay strong in the toughest days of your life. Not to give up easily, and never lose hope. There is a great lesson about friendship too, and it’s for the narrator. The narrator begins telling the story, and it’s the usual perception that he will be alive by the end. That’s why he is narrating it, right? Well, no. Here, Bayona and team have given a superb metaphorical touch to it as the narrator dies in the middle of the story. He continues living within his friends, who would survive at the end. That’s one of the most beautiful metaphors I have seen in any film in recent times. The screenplay is quite down in the first half because the story and characters take time to build themselves up. Naturally, there are so many characters, and you need time to study and understand them. During that process, the film loses its pace. However, the second half finds an upper gear to take the survival ride safely to its destination.
Society of the Snow has such a wholesome and wonderful cast. It’s a big unit, and the roles are divided. They don’t have any good-looking faces, glam appeal, or fancy clothing to leave an impression. But they all leave a mark with their performances as an acting unit. It’s a fine example of great teamwork. Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Felipe González Otaño, Luciano Chatton, Valentino Alonso, Francisco Romero, Agustín Berruti, Andy Pruss, Simón Hempe, Juan Caruso, Esteban Bigliardi, Rocco Posca, Esteban Kukuriczka, Rafael Federman, Agustín Della Corte, and Tomas Wolf-you can’t remember their names and faces, but you will remember their performances in the film. It’s a freaking good job done by the entire team, not on the rugby field but on the acting pitch. Newcomers or not, it just doesn’t matter.
All the white snow, horrible accidents, and frightening storms are captured masterfully by Pedro Luque’s camera. The sound design works well, and the production design is excellent too. How much did it cost them? They have done it on a moderate budget, I hear. It’s wonderful, then. 144 minutes seemed a bit longer, maybe 15 minutes, but otherwise Jaume Martí has edited it well. A big shoutout to the dress designer and make-up team for the outstanding work they have done. Those bleeding and frozen faces, that sensitive skin, that pain and dry lips and cheeks-it’s so brutal and real to take as a viewer because you are a human yourself. Some credit goes to special effects team too. J. A. Bayona failed to convince us with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, but now he has levelled that fall by rising to the top. Society Of The Snow was not an easy film to make, and the filmmaker gave his best with probably the toughest film of his career. Such a difficult story to handle, and that too, with so many newcomers, Bayona certainly deserves forgiveness for his mediocre reptile story now. He must have had his lesson now: human stories are always better! There is so much in the film to experience that can’t be explained in words, so I leave you with one line: Watch it, experience it, and don’t forget to feel it.
