This isn’t the first movie about the 1972 plane crash in the Andes, where 16 of 45 passengers survived for more than 70 days after resorting to cannibalism. Alive with Ethan Hawke comes to mind with Showtime’s Yellowjackets being an adaptation. This one was made in with Uruguayan and Argentine actors and is the most expensive Spanish film ever made. After a nerve-racking crash, the filmmaker depicts the struggles to survive despite immense odds and setbacks. While the circumstances are harrowing, the dramatic impact is often flat and their plight seems incomplete, perhaps because there’s no backstory…only what occurs in the Andes. The performances, most of whom are non-actors, are fine without ever conveying much real emotion. The film remains an incredible story about survival, but much of their horrorific experience never translates as powerfully to the screen as it might have. 
(3 / 5)
