The latest high-profile international movie from Netflix is here in the form of Society of the Snow, a survival thriller that could be in the Oscar hunt.
Society of the Snow is about a rugby team that is involved in a plane crash in the Andes mountains in 1972, and the lengths they have to go to to survive several months in the remote and snowy wilderness.
If that plot synopsis seems familiar, it's because the movie is based on true events: Netflix's new movie is based on a real-life story from 1972, which is arguably best known for a very particular method of survival that we can't bring up without spoiling the movie.
All adaptations of real events have to change some events to fit into a feature movie run-time; we're seeing several months of drama in just under 150 minutes. So what changed between the tragic events of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash, and Society of the Snow? Let's take a look.
From here on, spoilers for both Society of the Snow and the real events ensue. We're presuming you've seen the movie, or don't mind finding out how it ends.
Did Numa Turcatti really die?
One of the most shocking moments of Society of the Snow (and that's really saying something) is when Numa Turcatti passes away, partly from an infection on his leg and partly through malnutrition (as he didn't eat any human flesh).
From the beginning of the movie, Turcatti is set up to be our main character, and we see lots of his reluctance to join the trip and his bright future as a lawyer. He also provides narration throughout the movie, even after his death, which makes his death mid-way through a big surprise.
This is what happened in real life, though. Turcatti passed away on the 60th day after the crash, and he was the last one of the crash survivors to die.
Did the survivors really become cannibals?
Quite early on in Society of the Snow, some of the crash survivors realize that their only source of food was the bodies of those who died in the mountains. After a philosophical, ethical and theological debate on the act, they decide to start harvesting meat from corpses.
In real life, this is exactly what happened too. The food from the flight only lasted a week, and so the crash survivors all gave each other permission to use their bodies for food if they should die, which did of course happen. They used shards of broken glass to slice up the meat and dried it in the sun to prepare it.
Not all the crash survivors ate human meat, some finding the idea a step too far, but all those who were eventually rescued did.
Several months after the rescue, the media found out that the flight survivors had eaten meat, as (for understandable reasons) they tried not to mention it too much. The initial revelation shocked lots of people but there were understanding responses too, even from religious figures, due to the extreme situation of the acts.
Did Parrado and Canessa really hike out of the mountain?
In Society of the Snow, Roberto Canessa and Nando Parrado save their friends by hiking for several days in the direction that they think Chile is in. Eventually, they come across a horse rider, who gets word to authorities.
In real life, this is exactly what happened, even down to the fact that Antonio Vizintin initially joined them but returned so they could preserve their food for longer. However the two men hiked for a grand total of ten days before finding help, which the movie doesn't make abundantly clear.
The note that the rider relays to authorities is verbatim what Parrado wrote in real life. However in reality, the rider didn't stop for the two men initially; he saw them but let them know that he'd return tomorrow, so Canessa and Parrado had to wait by the river for an extra night before the rescue.
How long did the rescue attempt really take?
The movie sticks pretty clearly to the real timeline of events, though it doesn't always communicate this. However it makes it clear that the first rescue attempt is on the 71st day after the crash or Friday, December 22.
In both Society of the Snow and real life, this was a single day after word of Parrado and Canessa's survival reached authorities.
There's one clear change, which is perhaps the only significant one in the entire movie. In Society of the Snow, it's suggested that all the survivors were picked up at the same time, but this didn't happen.
In real life, the survivors were rescued over two days, due to the rescue helicopters not being able to carry much weight in the high altitude. Six people were rescued on the Friday, and the remainder (as well as four volunteers who were flown to the crash site to accompany the remaining survivors) were picked up the next day.
Were any character fates different in real life?
Society of the Snow is incredibly accurate to the real-life events, and there are no major changes in the adaptation. Unlike in other adaptations of this story, the real character names are used for the characters.
To watch the movie, you might not be aware that multiple members of the plane's crew survived; in Society of the Snow, we see the pilot die after the crash, but that's it. In reality, five members of crew joined the 40 passengers, and two of them survived the crash.
Society of the Snow never says this doesn't happen, but it focuses on a few key characters instead of all 45 people on the plane.
