Netflix’s gripping thriller based on a true event has left audiences baffled and asking, “Why wasn’t this masterpiece nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars?”
The Academy has indeed expanded its Best Picture category to include ten films, making the competition fiercer than ever.
This year’s Oscars saw a lineup of formidable contenders like Barbenheimer, Poor Things, Past Lives, and Killers of the Flower Moon, with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer clinching the trophy.
Despite the intense competition, even widely acclaimed films like The Iron Claw were left out of the nominations entirely.
However, Netflix enthusiasts believe that Society of the Snow, a film depicting the harrowing ordeal of the Uruguay Rugby Team’s 1972 plane crash in the Andes, deserved a spot among last year’s cinematic highlights.
Released on Netflix in late 2023 and based on Pablo Veirci’s 2009 book, Society of the Snow has captured the audience’s attention with its chilling narrative, scoring a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.8/10 on IMDb, making it one of Netflix’s most watched films ever.
The film featured Enzo Vogrincic and Agustin Pardella and managed to snag two Oscar nominations for Best International Film and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, though it didn’t win in either category nor was it nominated for Best Picture.
Fans on Reddit were quick to express their disbelief and admiration for the film’s execution. One viewer remarked, “The match cut from the guy alive to being a frozen corpse was f**king amazing. Terrific film. How this isn’t getting buzz for a Best Picture nomination is wild to me.”
Another enthusiast commented, “It’s one of the better foreign films I’ve ever seen. Like, it’s actually so f**king good. I’m tempted to say it’s better than Killers or Oppenheimer. It’s honestly so good. Probably hit hard for me because I didn’t know the actual story. When you don’t know how it’s going to end (had no idea how many would survive, or how) it’s an insanely great story to behold. Because it’s all true.”
Kevin Maher from The Times praised the movie, noting, “The power of the film resides in its moral even-handedness and technical virtuosity (the crash is genuinely terrifying).”
Amon Warmann of Empire Magazine also lauded the film, awarding it four stars and commenting, “A viscerally rendered plane crash gives way to an affecting story of humanity and survival. [Director J.A. Bayona] is on impressive form here.”
Despite being up against other remarkable foreign-language films like Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall, it’s clear why fans felt Society of the Snow deserved recognition in the Best Picture category.