Helga without the H

Every year* I attempt (with varying degrees of success and effort) to watch as many of that year’s Oscar nominees as possible. For the past few years* I’ve posted reviews of these movies here on this blog. At some point before the awards ceremony, I usually write up some sort of over-analysis and maybe some predictions, but we’ll see if I run out of steam before then. In the meantime, today we cover…

*Except 2022, when I was too burned out from 2021’s binge to give a crap.

Society of Snow

[2 nominations for best international feature and hair/makeup]

IS IT SALTBURN? Yes. But much more terrifying.

Do you feel like having the ever-loving shit scared right out of you? Then Society of Snow is the film for you! If you’re unaware, this is the true story about a plane full of rugby players who crash in the Andes. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the exact same story as the Ethan Hawke film, Alive. I barely remember Alive, and am not even sure if I ever saw it. The main thing I remember (mainly because I was a kid when it came out? And wasn’t even alive yet when the actual crash happened?) was that it’s a story about cannibalism. Technically, yeah, they had to eat their dead friends to survive. But that’s not really the point of this story.

This is a story about survival. What makes this film especially impactful is its dedication to detail and accuracy. It focused on the real people and their real stories, not a Hollywood blockbuster story. The film is based on memoirs of a survivor, and the filmmakers consulted with other remaining survivors. The actors are all actual South Americans. Lots of the filming happened at the actual crash site. Yes, the real crash site, up in the mountains, away from all civilization, where people actually died. Part of me cringed a little when I first read that, thinking it seemed disrespectful. But after more consideration, I think the opposite. The film was very respectful of all of the men and women on board, and so the added grain of accuracy that helped us capture their actual environment seemed warranted to me.

I am surprised to not see this film nominated for more nominations, at least for effects, because holy cow that plane crash scene felt REAL. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like it. I was experiencing panic just watching it from the comfort of my couch. Later there is an avalanche that buries many of the passengers alive within the body of what remains of the plane’s cabin. And I felt a real sense of claustrophobia watching it. When they were freezing on their first night (before anyone managed to build shelter out of suitcases), I was trembling. This film was clearly perfectly capable of creating over-the-top terrifying scenes (see plane crash), but most relied on quiet dread. Overall, the entire thing was extremely effective.

The Netflix version I watched was dubbed into English (which I wasn’t expecting), so it could be that the performances were better or worse than they seemed. Dubbing is always weird. But I didn’t find it distracting in this film; the actors all seemed totally fine to me. I guess if there is a downside, the film did drag a bit at points, but then again- that could be by design. How much could every day be dragging for those poor crash victims? An extra few minutes of screentime for us is minor by comparison. (Also, if you’re watching on Netflix, those quieter moments allow plenty of time for Googling facts about the original crash, the movie, etc.)

Bottom line, this was a solid film all around. The best film of the year? Yeah, I don’t know about that (well yeah I do- answer is no). But solid.