Film Review

Society of the Snow (2023) — disaster and unexpected beauty in a moving tale of survival

In the 1970s, a group of young men fight to survive after a plane crash leaves them stranded in the Andes.

Nearly two decades after delivering arguably the best cinematic ghost story of the 21st-century with The Orphanage / El orfanato (2007), Spanish director J.A. Bayona returns with a similar achievement in Society of the Snow / La sociedad de la nieve. The Orphanage masterfully wielded classic Gothic elements while transcending the genre with an unexpected and highly poignant emotional dimension. In his first feature as both writer and director, Bayona now weaves a captivating film that pushes the conventions of the survival genre.

Naturally, the true story behind Society of the Snow lends itself to such dramatic treatment. The film opens with a voiceover referencing both a tragedy and a miracle, alluding to the real-life incident sometimes known as the Miracle of the Andes. While widely famous in the 1970s, the tale may be less familiar now, and likely unknown in detail, though Frank…