A Spanish-speaking friend of mine recently proposed that we watch “Society of the Snow” together, partly because she knew I’d been practicing my second-language skills. Neither of us had seen the film yet, and ultimately, only one of us would: she decided to renege on her promise after reconsidering the movie’s subject matter. And that is because, despite being a tale of perseverance and triumph, the most enduring legacy of the 1972 Andes plane crash is also its most grim.
J.A. Bayona’s take on the tragedy wallops its viewers with 2 hours and 24 minutes of unrelenting intensity. After a plane carrying a team of Uruguayan rugby players and some of their supporters plunges into the frigid and bleakly uninhabitable South American mountain range, the survivors must resort to unthinkable extremes to muddle through.
