This is the first film in six years by JA Bayona, a director I’ve always really admired. I adored the fantasy drama A Monster Calls (2016), and while I didn’t like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), his accomplished direction did its best to turn what was a really poor screenplay into something worth watching.
Society Of The Snow is his second attempt at doing a disaster/survival film after 2012’s The Impossible, and while these kinds of films don’t normally appeal to me, Bayona has a knack for really selling the bleakness of the situation. In many of his films, he’s always aiming for heart wrenching emotion, something he’s very good at bringing out and something that Society Of The Snow needs if it’s going to leave an impact on the viewer.
With this film, he excels with the intense moments. The crash itself, as well as the subsequent landslides that come out of nowhere, are genuinely visceral to watch and the realistic performances very much help with this. There’s not a single actor here who looks like they’re acting, they all feel like ordinary humans trapped in a desperate scenario.
"It is very heavy, very grim and very long"
For me, there is one elephant in the room: it’s too long. Films that are needlessly lengthy are always a bugbear of mine and I don’t think Society Of The Snow needs to be 140 minutes. There’s a few too many scenes of people crying over dead bodies and lamenting the futility of their situation, which can stall the film’s momentum at points and leave it feeling somewhat directionless.
Having said that, it never feels like it's overselling the emotion, a common criticism of films like this where the sentimentality can often become cloying. The tone is very well-judged throughout, so while there aren’t really any moments of levity to raise your spirits, you don’t feel like the film’s trying to manipulate you into caring. The direction and the performances already do that for you.
I also appreciate that this film is in Spanish. This seems like a strange thing to bring up, and I suppose it is, but a story like this always feels more authentic when it’s spoken in the language of those who were involved in the first place.
Society Of The Snow is not the most relaxing of viewings. It is very heavy, very grim and very long. But when you’re up for it, I think the film has enough of an emotional core and well-done intensity to really leave its mark on you. J.A Bayona has delivered another very strong film and I am looking forward to seeing what genres he explores and what stories he tells in the future.