‘Society of the Snow’ review: Boyana returns to disaster drama in stellar form
Already dramatized in the 1993 movie “Alive,” the struggle of those who initially survived the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 in the Andes mountains to remain among the living gets a gripping and emotionally compelling new telling in “Society of the Snow.”
Landing on Netflix this week, the latter hits several of the major story beats of its three-decades-old predecessor: the crash, the rationing of food, the work to repair a radio and, of course, the debate over the morality of a choice they ultimately will have to make to stay alive for an indeterminate amount of time after concluding a rescue isn’t coming anytime soon.
It even begins by establishing, through narration, the duality of the saga, as did “Alive.”
“Some say it was a tragedy,” says Numa Turcatti (Enzo Vogrincic), whose voice is a recurring presence throughout the film. “Others call it a miracle.”
“Society of the Snow” is the first film from Spanish director J.A. Bayona since 2018’s underwhelming “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.” And it is his first Spanish-language film since his 2007 feature debut, “The Orphanage.” (If subtitles aren’t your bag, an English-language audio track is an option on Netflix.)
“Society of the Snow” also is a return of sorts to the type of filmmaking that put him on the map. But whereas his excellent 2012 disaster drama “The Impossible” covered, as the production notes for “Society of the Snow” remind us, 72 hours, this new film chronicles a 72-day ordeal. Working for the first time as a screenwriter — Bayona collaborated with Bernat Vilaplana, Jaime Marques-Olearraga on Nicolás Casariego to pen the adaptation of Pablo Vierci’s book of the same name — he takes his time setting up the saga to come.
We meet members of the Old Christians Club rugby team before they board their chartered plane, which was to have carried them, along with a few family members and friends, to Chile. Aboard the plane, we see the players joke around and give one another a hard time. One even gives them — and us — a science lesson in why an aircraft may be pulled down over the mountain range.
Soon, the plane is torn apart and crashes, Bayona implementing the type of modern filmmaking techniques that allow for this to be a much more harrowing cinematic experience than it was in the early 1990s.
Those who’ve lived face a terrifying new reality, as conveyed by Numa: “The night hits like an ambush. In the span of minutes, the temperature drops 30 degrees. If the crash didn’t kill us, the cold will.”
As time passes, the hope of being rescued increasingly gives way to hopelessness as they come to believe search parties they hear in the sky cannot see them due to weather conditions.
“This is a graveyard,” says Nando Parrado (Agustin Pardella), the man portrayed by Ethan Hawke in “Alive.” “I’m not staying here.”
By now, though, they are out of food, and to have any chance of making it somewhere safe on foot would require feeding on the dead — an option some are at least initially unwilling to make, Numa among them.
Although fairly slowly paced, “Society of the Snow” boasts an admirable ebb and flow. For instance, after showing us a moment of calm and levity among survivors who, many days into the affair, have settled into a bit of a routine, Bayona reminds us in no uncertain terms just how dangerous their environment is.
The ensemble, which also includes Matias Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Vegezzi and Fernando Contigiani Carcia, is quite strong. No doubt some of that is due to the two months of rehearsals involving 20 actors, in which they and the director came up with some of the plot choices that differ from what was portrayed in Vierci’s book. (The author, by the way, attended Stella Maris College in Montevideo, Uruguay, with some of the people on that flight, writing the book 36 years after the crash.)
“Society of the Snow” can be a taxing viewing experience, no doubt by design, which makes a moment you know is coming all that much more emotionally rewarding.
Released in select theaters in December, the film is Spain’s official submission for the upcoming 96th Academy Awards, and it’s not hard to see why.
It’s great to have Bayona back outside the “Jurassic” world. Here’s hoping for more soul-stirring dramas from him in the years to come.
‘Society of the Snow’
Where: Netflix.
When: Jan. 4.
Rated: R for violent/disturbing material and brief graphic nudity.
Runtime: 2 hours, 24 minutes.
Stars (of four): 3.5.