Genre: Adventure/ Thriller
Time: 2h 24mins
Director: J. A. Bayona
Quick Summary: The flight of a rugby team crashes on a glacier in the Andes. The few passengers who survive the crash find themselves in one of the world's toughest environments to survive.
I'm never complaining about the cold ever again.
Aside from the Final Destination series, nothing has terrified me even more to go on a plane until this. The crash scene in this is honestly so brutal I actually had to turn away at some points. I mean, it shows how horrible this accident actually was but boy, I was a bit squeamish. I think what makes this such a whiplash of a moment is because of how calm the first 15 minutes of this film are, and how happy and unsuspecting everyone is, and then bam. The worst plane crash I have ever seen happened.
What these people went through was horrible and the things they had to resort to so that they would survive were equally as horrible. I will warn people there are a lot of unsettling moments that are morally wrong but in their situation were understandable, and I am sure the survivors are traumatised by it. Let alone being forced to do things to survive, the sheer amount of willpower these people went through to survive the harsh weather conditions too was honestly admirable.
I adore the landscapes in this. Something pretty interesting too is some of the scenes were shot at the actual crash site. The shots of the Alps were so stunning, covered in sheer pure white for miles. I can't imagine how harsh on the eyes it would have been for these people to go from the almost pitch-black remnants of the plane to the blinding white as far as they could see. Going onto the plane, this manages to really capture how isolating and claustrophobic it would have been as people are huddled together to keep warm, or squashed together because of a snow storm, or even blocked from moving.
This is a devastating story, a lot of people die in various ways, and honestly, it kept getting sadder. It tugs at your heartstrings a lot, and you know what gets to me. This hasn't been dramatised, everything that happens in this pretty much happens in the real-life event. It's handled all so well too and as human as it could have been told to. Even in this horrible situation, it was nice to see the most human element of all, joy. There are moments scattered throughout this to show that even though they were on the verge of dying, they still managed to create fun and joyous moments to distract from the despair.
My only complaint about this is because of how long this film is, it did drag in places where things weren't really happening or moments were dragged out, though I suppose it did drag for those guys. I think sometimes the conversations were a bit lengthy when they didn't need to be, or there just wasn't really much going on.
A very harrowing story told in the most professional way it could have been. It doesn't focus too much on the more disturbing bits, but instead chooses to focus on the people and honestly, that is so respectful to me. It memorializes the lives of those who sadly died during this and respects the lives of those who survived.
9/10
"Numa Turcatti: This is a place where life is impossible. Out here, we are an anomaly."
"Numa Turcatti: [narrating] Night falls like an ambush. In the span of minutes, the temperature drops 86 degrees. If the plane crash didn't kill us, the cold will. We huddle together the best we can. Living and dead, as one."
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