In recent years, Netflix has gone from being everyone’s favorite way to pass the time to being recognized by the Academy Awards. Although the streaming giant has received various nominations, it has only taken home 22 Oscars. Even this year, the media company managed to scoop up 18 nominations for the 96th annual awards show. This year, the streamer’s Society of the Snow was the one that caught attention.

The 2023 survival thriller may have had its share of fiction. However, the storyline was based on a true story that had unraveled in the Andes Mountains back in the 1970s.

The true story behind Netflix’s Society of the Snow

Last year, Netflix may have taken over the world with its live adaptations and biographical dramas like One Piece and Maestro. However, Society of the Snow, the movie based on a true story, also wound up leaving quite an impact. The J. A. Bayona film shed light on a harrowing tale of survival after a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team went down in the Andes Mountains. 

The movie was based on a 2009 book of the same name by Pablo Vierci. Although the events that took place in 1972 had already been told twice before, the director found a way to tell the story in a way that had never been done before. While the film may not have been in English, it still wound up with one BAFTA nomination and two Oscar nominations. 

Apart from sticking to the facts, the survival thriller even brought back some people who had lived the terrifying event to be a part of the retelling.

The cameos from real survivors in Society of the Snow

Months ago, after the Society of the Snow made its way onto Netflix, viewers lost their minds when they realized that they were watching people who had lived through the traumatizing crash of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. With the film sticking to the facts, J. A. Bayona managed to bring in some of the plane crash survivors and their families to be a part of the retelling.

Individuals who had played a part in the crash and the rescue like Nando Parrado, Roberto Canessa, and Carlitos Paez made cameos. They even attended the 80th Venice International Film Festival to have their story completely told for the first time.

What do you think about J. A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow? Let us know in the comments below.