Society of the Snow: Netflix release date, true story of 1972 Andes flight disaster, is film a remake of Alive

Netflix original Spanish language drama Society of the Snow tells the harrowing true story of an infamous plane crash in the Andes mountains, and the ordeal survivors went through on a two month battle for their lives.

Society of the Snow is the second feature film to be made about the 1972 Andes flight disaster, which became an international story at the time, and the first to be made in the Spanish language.

The film, directed by J.A. Bayona, who helmed The Impossible, A Monster Calls, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is an unflinching representation of the extremes that those who were not killed in the crash were forced to go through to survive.

What was the 1972 Andes flight disaster?

In 1972 a Uruguayan Air Force flight travelling from Montevideo, Uruguay to Santiago, Chile, crashed in the Andes mountain range when the co-pilot believed they had flown over the mountains and began a descent.

The plane hit a mountain ridge, shearing off both wings and the tail section, whilst the main body slid more than 700 metres down a glacier at high speed and collided with an ice mound.

There were five crew and 40 passengers on board the flight at the time of the crash, among them 19 members of a Uruguayan Rugby Union team. Three passengers and nine crew died immediately in the crash, and several others died shortly after from their injuries and the severe weather conditions. Search and rescue flights travelled over the crash site but failed to spot the plane’s white fuselage and wreckage against the snow. 

Survivors of the crash spent two months in extreme conditions without appropriate clothing or equipment, and were forced to resort to cannibalism. Two of the passengers embarked on a 10 day hike to Chile where they were eventually able to find outside help.

On 23 December, 72 days after the crash, the 14 other survivors were rescued - out of the 45 on board the flight, 16 survived the horrific ordeal.

Is Society of the Snow a remake of Alive?

Society of the Snow tells the same story of the 1993 English language drama Alive, which also follows the Andes flight disaster and the passengers’ ordeal in the days and months after.

The original film was infamous for its brutal depiction of the cannibalism that the passengers were forced to take part in to survive, and Society of the Snow also features gruesome scenes of cannibalism.

Alive and Society of the Snow are the only feature films based on the 1972 plane crash - a 2007 documentary, Stranded, features survivor’s accounts of their harrowing ordeal.

When is the release date of Society of the Snow?

Society of the Snow was released on Netflix on January 4 and is available to stream now. The film will play automatically with original Spanish audio and English subtitles, but you can change the audio settings so that it plays with English dubs.

Where can you watch Alive?

1993 drama Alive is available to stream on Paramount+, and you can rent or buy the film from Amazon, the Sky Store, and Apple TV from £2.99.