In 1972, the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, chartered to fly a rugby team to Chile, catastrophically crashes on a glacier in the heart of the Andes. Only 16 of the 40 passengers survived the crash and finding themselves in one of the world’s toughest environments, they are forced to resort to extreme measures to stay alive. -Synopsis

This movie (streaming on Netflix) is Spain’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2024 Oscars; it is in Spanish w/ English subtitles. At the Goya Awards on February 10th, it became in the 3rd most awarded movie in Spain’s history by winning 12 prizes. The director (and one of several co-writers) is from Spain; J.A. Bayona recently worked on eps of The Rings of Power (Amazon Prime) and the movie Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom. Pablo Vierci, the author of the book La Sociedad de la Nieve is a friend of some of the young men in the crash; he also served as a consultant on this movie. Some of you may be familiar w/ Alive (1993) starring Ethan Hawke.

I checked out this movie after noting a LOT of Twitter posts re: its lead- 30 y.o. Uruguayan actor Enzo Vogrincic. He plays Numa Turcatti, a college grad/photography enthusiast who is best pals w/ one of the rugby players. Many viewers have pointed out his physical resemblance to Adam Driver in this film. Others noted that in Vogrincic’s modeling photos (incl. for the Spanish fashion brand Loewe), the similarity isn’t as strong. Yes, the South American actor (who does a fine job) is indeed a fan of Driver’s work. Vogrincic (working on becoming fluent in English) was recently seen at BAFTA; you can follow him on IG (vogrincicenzo).

I have searched within my family tree, I cannot find actors, writers, poets. I think I did it (deciding to be an actor) to go against them, but it is very personal, I am creative in everything I do, it is part of my be, I can’t help it. -Enzo Vogrincic (actor)

The film was mostly shot in the Andes in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic; the cinematography is stunning (the snow is real)! The haircuts, clothing, and accessories are pulled directly from photos of those involved in the crash. Filming was done in chronological order (which is rare) to allow the young actors to lose lbs. (to add to the realism). The story is NOT too bleak (dark); the focus is on the resilience of the human spirit. Much is revealed w/o a LOT of words in some tense/emotional scenes. The run time is a BIT long and I’d have liked more character development.