Telling the story of a real crash that left 16 survivors stranded in the Andes, Society of the Snow is one of the most exciting new movies coming to Netflix in early 2024. The film has already earned rave reviews after playing at several prominent film festivals, and it’s the kind of survival epic that can feel all too uncommon in the modern movie landscape.
If you’ve checked out Society of the Snow, which hits Netflix on January 4, and you’re looking for other titles that may offer something similar, then you’re in luck. We’ve put together a list of three great survival epics that are sure to remind you of the thrills that Society of the Snow provides.
Alive (1993)
This is definitely the most obvious movie to check out if you’ve already seen Society of the Snow, as it’s an Americanized version of the same story. In Alive, the survivors stranded in the Andes are played by Hollywood stars like Ethan Hawke (Leave the World Behind) and Josh Hamilton, but all of the same details are there, and it manages to be pretty harrowing in its own right.
Society of the Snow is definitely going to get credit for being more authentic about casting actors who are actually Argentinian and Chilean, but if you’re looking for a solid popcorn version of this story, which still includes the decision to eat the dead passengers to survive, then you could do much worse than Alive.
Alive can be rented or purchased at digital vendors like Apple TV.
Captain Phillips (2013)
Telling the true story of the harrowing hostage situation that ensued after a commercial ship was commandeered by Somali pirates, Captain Phillips chronicles what that hostage situation was like from both the crew’s perspective and that of the pirates.
Thanks to career-best work from Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) in the lead role, we get a sense of the way the trauma of this incident slowly builds into something almost impossible to deal with. Captain Phillips is tense for the entirety of its run time, thanks in large part to the central performances, as well as director Paul Greengrass’ decision to almost solely focus on what was happening on the boat.
Captain Phillips is streaming for free on Freevee.
Gravity (2013)
Both profoundly beautiful and deeply harrowing, Gravity tells the fictional story of an astronaut who finds herself stranded following an accident in space. The stunning visual effects that this film employs are a huge part of its success, as is Sandra Bullock’s hugely committed central performance as a woman who is just trying to find a way to get back to Earth.
The genius of Gravity comes from its technical wizardry, and from Alfonso Cuarón’s instinctive understanding of how to tell this story. It’s incredibly short and compact, especially for a movie of this scale, which is a huge part of the reason it resonated so widely upon its release.
Gravity is streaming on Netflix.
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